Total Drama Revenge of the Island Remake
by JojiMC
Summary: Same cast as the canon season, except with different teams and plots going on. New and improved version of TDROTI, though it is still heavily based on the canon.
1. Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er! (Part 1)

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own the Total Drama Revenge of the Island season, or any of its characters.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

The following elements of this story are different from the canon: the elimination order, the teams, the order of the episodes (there's just one switcheroo), what challenges either team wins, and the characters' interactions. Additionally, I made minor behavioral adjustments with a few characters (though they are still essentially themselves). Challenges will be the same, Chris's speeches will pretty much be the same, and there are quite a few humorous lines I enjoyed from the canon that you'll find here.

This is the first Total Drama fanfic I've ever begun writing before. I'm going to try to write this story to the best of my ability. If you find any faults in my sentences, feel free to let me know so I can correct the error(s). If you have any criticisms and/or suggestions toward the story itself, feel free to share.

If you sincerely read this summary, then thank you. You may now proceed to the story below. :-)

* * *

A camera is looking out into outer space. From its view, we see an astronaut floating near Earth. The astronaut taps a satellite beside him with his wrench. The satellite flashes green in response and whirs to life- only to turn back red and then fall into pieces.

"We've been to the movies," says Chris the host. "We've been _around the world_. And this season, we're going right back to where it all began- at Camp Wawanakwa."

The view switches to a dock on which a dark-haired man is standing nearby a sign saying "WAWANAKWA" in bold red script. He's wearing his trademark white smile.

He begins walking along the rickety wooden dock. "I'm Chris McLean, and as you can see, things have changed since we've been away." An intern shows up at a distance, holding up a platter with a coconut drink on it. As Chris stops next to the intern, the Wawanakwa sign suddenly tilts down on one end and crashes through the dock.

"And by 'changed'," Chris says, "I meant gotten really, really dangerous." Right on cue, a gigantic octopus leg rises out of nowhere and swings down on the intern, dragging him and a good chunk of the dock down with it.

Chris merely laughs. "Good stuff."

"But the rules of the game remain the same: A handful of unsuspecting 16-year-old teens will bunk with complete strangers, air their dirty laundry in an outhouse confessional, complete life-threatening challenges all over the island...and risk being voted off. Last one standing wins: ONE, MILLION, DOL-LARS! Speaking of our cast, here they come now!"

A red and white cruise ship speedily approaches, carrying the versatile cast from the past: Lindsay and Tyler sitting on the railing edge while locking lips; Eva crossing her arms and glaring out at the water; both Owen and Geoff pumping their fists to the party music playing.

Their ship zips right past the dock. "NOOOooooo!" Owen screams in the distance.

"Heheh. No, not _them_," the host says, "this season we've got all _new_ players fighting for the million! And here they come now- for real!"

The new boat is plain white, and riding along much slower than the last one.

"Meet, **Jo**." A girl in dark sweats and a sweatshirt has her arms crossed. She scowls at the camera head-on.

"I already have this competition in the bag," the girl boasts. "Trust me."

"**Scott**." A guy in a tank top smirks, sporting carrot colored hair and freckles.

"**Zoey**." An even brighter redhead looks up and smiles at the camera.

"**Mike**." A brown-skinned teen waves and grins, revealing a gap in his front teeth.

"**Lightning**." The African jock looks pumped.

"Lightning's gonna win the whole sha-bang!" he says. "Root for Lightning, TV viewers!"

"**Brick**." A built teen with a crew cut salutes.

"**B**." A big-boned tan guy gives a mild wave.

"And, **Dawn**." A girl with white-blonde locks pays no attention to the camera. She appears to be meditating while sitting on the boat railing.

She opens her eyes and smiles, laying a hand on B's shoulder. "Your aura is exceptionally purplish-green," she says to B, who forms a puzzled expression. "Oh, but it suits you though!

His mouth curls up at that.

"**Dakota**." A girl wearing orange-tinted shades twiddles her fingers at the camera.

"Hey there!" she shouts out to the viewing world. "Dakota here! And I'm going to win thi-"

"**Anne** **Maria**." A very tanned, curvy teenager purses her lips as she strikes a pose.

Dakota shoves the girl out of camera view. "Whoa! Who said you could _pan away_ from me?"

Anne Maria rams Dakota to the ground. "Don't push ME, Blondie!" She pulls out hairspray from her back pocket and proceeds to spray Dakota in a cloud of chemicals.

"**Staci**." A chubby girl wearing a ribbon in her hair takes note of Anne Maria's skin color. "My great aunt Millie invented suntan," she says in a high bubbly voice. "Yah- before her, people smeared themselves with clay." Anne Maria shoots her with hairspray until she falls down like Dakota.

Anne Maria raises her eyebrows at the spray can she's holding. "This ain't a bad weapon if I say so myself."

"**Cameron**." A little black boy with glasses stands alone near the railing, on the second level of the boat. He takes a deep sniff.

"Fresh air," he breathes. "A real lake! _Birds_!" Seagulls fly across the sky ahead.

"**Sam**." Back in first level, another guy with glasses seems to be absorbed in his game device.

"Oh yeah! Grenade launcher upgrade!" he says to no one in particular.

The view switches back to Chris at the dock. "Yup," he says, "it's our roughest, toughest, most _explosive _season ever!" He pulls out a single-button remote from his pocket and presses the red button with his thumb.

**KABOOM! **The cruise ship explodes into light, becoming extinct in an instant. Every contestant screams as they free-fall into the water.

"Oh, there's more where that came from," Chris says, chuckling. "Right here, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

We see the contestants up close as they dive into the lake. Cameron crashes torso-first on a protruding boulder, shuddering from the impact. "Euh!" he chokes. "Is this what pain tastes like?"

Anne Maria is swimming to keep her head above water. "Chris is so getting the beat down for this!"

Cameron clings on to his boulder. "Help!" he cries out, staring at the waves beneath him.

"Wimp." Scott swims his way past.

"I'll save you little girl!" Lightning says as he reaches the boulder. He climbs onto it, then scoops up the boy and tucks him under his arm. He prepares to jump off.

"I'm a boy!" says Cameron. He lets out a scream as Lightning leaps which becomes gurgled as they hit the water.

Dakota is doing the dog paddle when she spies a boat with photographers approaching. She stops and turns around. "Hi fellas!" she says, waving. "However did you find me?"

Camera shots go off. "Uh, we got your text?" one man says.

Chris is watching this unfold from an outdoor TV screen as he sits in a lawn chair. "For crying out loud!" he says, throwing down his fruit punch. He takes out a walkie talkie and speaks into it. "Chef, it's your cue."

Chef is overseeing the contestants from above in a helicopter. "Copy that." He retrieves dynamite from the supply area in the back, then drops it onto the end of the photographers' boat.

**BOOM! **The photographers fly off to who knows where.

"That was SO uncalled for!" Dakota yells to Chef above.

The most athletic of the contestants are close to the shore. Water sprays everywhere as Jo inches ahead of Brick and Lightning. She is the first to touch sand. Brick sprawls onto the shore beside her, and Lightning releases Cameron from his hold.

"Whoo hoo! First place!" Jo says.

"Aw, man! Lightning would have beat you if he hadn't saved this shrimp here," Lightning says, pointing at Cameron who is kneeling and coughing up water.

Jo spots someone sitting on a rock and blinks several times. "What the- how did you- you're not even _wet_!"

The girl on the rock is Dawn, examining a starfish while holding it up. She lowers her arm and looks over at the others. "Hm? Oh! I used a shortcut."

Brick bends on one knee and stands up. "Good work, both of you," he says. Jo glares daggers at him.

He looks taken aback. "Ma'am, what did I say?"

Jo is silent. Mike and Zoey walk onto the sand, carrying Staci between them; Scott arrives as well.

"Good thing our luggage wasn't on that ship," Mike comments to the people on the beach. Several of them nod.

Anne Maria and B swim over after some time. Dakota and Sam join the group last, with Sam checking his GameGuy device for water damage. The campers split up- Mike, Zoey, and Cameron walk over to Dawn by the rocks, while Brick, Lightning, and Jo all stand some distance from one another. Everyone else wanders around on the lake shore.

"Hello," Dawn says as the campers sit on their own separate boulders. "What made you three decide to come join me?"

"It looked like a good sitting spot," Cameron says.

"What he said," says Mike.

"I was just following you guys," Zoey says and grins at them both. "I'm just sooo stoked to be here. I've been watching Total Drama forever!"

Dawn watches her intently. "Yes. You stayed home a lot watching Total Drama and other shows, being an only child and all."

Zoey sits up straighter, her dark eyes wide. "Huh? Who told you that?"

"Your soul reads like an open book! You had a lonely childhood." Dawn takes Zoey's hand in hers. "It must have been difficult."

Pulling her hand back, Zoey crosses her arms. Mike suddenly gets up, having three pairs of eyes follow him as he leaves. After a moment, Zoey too stands up and walks away.

"They must've not liked your soul-reading for some reason," Cameron observes.

Dawn sighs. "It happens. Both of them hold insecurities they'd rather not face."

"Why did you talk about Zoey's then?"

"I have trouble keeping quiet about other people's problems," she confesses. "It's been a habit of mine ever since I learned how to read souls."

"Can you read mine?" Cameron asks, his expression more curious than afraid.

She smiles. "Sure! It's rare someone actually wants me to. You have lived in a bubble for most of your life, due to your mother worrying about your weak immune system and physical underdevelopment. Because you are used to being sheltered, you feel acute excitement and anxiety about being out here right now."

"Everything you just said is true! Wow. That's incredible."

"You're very kind," Dawn says, smiling wider. Just then, Chris's voice bellows out of a loudspeaker tied to a nearby tree.

"ATTENTION, FRESH MEAT! SEE THE TRAIL LEADING INTO THE FOREST?" Everyone's eyes go over to a light dirt path off the shore. "RACE TO THE END OF THE TRAIL, AND DO NOT DISTURB THE WILDLIFE. THAT WOULD BE BAD."

Lightning snickers. "Yeah. We wouldn't want to upset the _bunnies_!"

"THE TINIEST SOUND CAN SET THEM OFF. LIKE, **THIS**!" A horn blares through the loudspeaker, making people clap their hands over their ears. Creature growls rise up from the distant forest, and trees start to topple. The campers commence running toward the path for their lives.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SAM (The Gamer Guy)

Sam puts away his GameGuy. He says in his usual gritty voice, "Heheh, I'm already getting a killer workout here on the island! I knew I should've bought that sweet fitness workout game." He scratches his head. "Huh. I just hope I don't actually get killed. I mean, the way Chris blew up our ship was pretty dangerous. And I'm not that good a swimmer, or athlete in general." With a shrug, he pulls out his GameGuy and resumes playing.

* * *

Sam is huffing and puffing by the time he comes to the forest. He slows to a stop once he sees Dakota sitting under a tree, texting. "Hey! We're supposed to be running, remember?" he says.

Dakota looks up at him, then back to her phone.

He steps over to her, holding a hand out for her to grab. "It'll be fine once we get to the finish line. Come on, you can do it."

"Chris isn't making me run after swimming," she says. "He blew up the paparazzi to outer space!"

"When did they show up?" Sam wonders out loud. "Well, anyway, suit yourself." He runs off, huffing in and out.

Jo, Brick, and Lightning are racing once more on the land trail. A squirrel squeals and scampers out of their way. Lightning runs like he means to tackle someone, sprinting ahead of the other two.

"Sha-BAM!" He skids across the finish line. "And Lightning wins the Super Bowl!"

"Whatever, Football Star Wannabe," Jo jeers.

"Hey!" He sounds offended. "I really am a football star back home! Back home, I lead the te-"

"I really don't care to know actually."

"You're just jealous I won," Lightning sniffs.

"Am not!"

"Am too!" They begin to squabble, talking loudly over each other.

"GUYS! Guys," Brick intervenes, "let's not fight. It doesn't accomplish anything."

"Stay out of this, Crew Cut," Jo snaps.

"You guys done here?" asks Chris, sitting on a red ATV several yards away. "Good. Brick, take two steps left. You're on Team A. Jo and Lightning, you're on Team B." Jo and Lightning stare each other down as Brick walks away.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO (The Take-No-Prisoners Jockette)

Jo has one leg stretched across the toilet. "I was just trying to set the record straight with Lightning," she says. "Make sure he doesn't get any ideas in his head. I want to ensure that I'm team leader, and if Lightning's some sort of team football captain back home, he's a threat to my leadership. I have to keep his confidence down low so he does whatever I say."

* * *

Anne Maria reaches the finish line next, panting. "What show are we on, The Biggest Loser?" she complains to Chris.

"No, you're on Total Drama Season Four," Chris says. "You're also on Team A, over there."

She mumbles insults as she walks to where Brick is standing. Mike arrives at the finish then, breathing hard and slowing down on his run. Dawn crosses a moment later, Zoey and a limping Cameron coming up behind her.

"Mike, you're on Team B. Dawn Team A, Zoey Team B, and Cameron Team A," says Chris. The four teens split their separate ways.

"Tripped on a tree branch?" Dawn asks Cameron, as she and him stand in their places.

"Yeah, just a moment ago. I also smudged my glasses." Cameron proceeds to wipe his glasses lens on his sweatshirt.

Scott soon saunters across the finish line. "I'm saving my energy for the upcoming challenge," he says.

"That's smart," Mike admits.

"Thank you!"

"Scott. You're on Team B," Chris says. Scott steps over to Mike, Zoey, Jo, and Lightning. He sizes up his teammates while maintaining a poker face.

Staci arrives, followed by B and then Sam. "Staci, Team A. _B_, Team _B_, heheh. Sam, Team A." The three separate into their teams, with B frowning at Chris.

"I think that's everyone," Brick says.

"Someone's missing," Chris contradicts, rubbing his chin. "Annoying blonde with paparazzi following her...oh, yeah. Dakota."

"I'm coming!" Dakota shouts, running over to the group. She places her steps carefully to avoid any mud.

"HURRY UP ALREADY!" Jo says. Dakota gives her a dirty look.

"You're on Team A, Dakota," Chris says.

"Okay!" She heads over to her team. Sam smiles at her, which she doesn't notice.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON (The Wide-Eyed Bubble Boy)

Cameron' eyes are wide. "I have a confession to make," he says. "I might've been hallucinating, but I think I saw Dawn _levitate_ over the finish line. When I fell on the branch, my eyes were at ground level and I saw both her feet floating in midair."

* * *

"Alright campers," Chris says from his ATV. "Now. This season of Total Drama will b-"

Scott interrupts, "What the heck were those animals in the forest?"

"I'm pretty sure those cries do not belong to _any_,_ known_,_ animal species_," Cameron says, sounding panicky.

"Relax!" Chris says. "It'll all make sense eventually...hehehehe. Never interrupt me by the way. As I was saying, this season will be a little bit different in several aspects. For example, in every episode someone _will be_ eliminated."

A gasp erupts from the group.

"It's never been that hard before!" says Zoey.

"I know, I'm good. But since you're all first-timers, I'm going to cut you a break and hide this genu-ine McLean brand Chris head! Your free ticket back into the game, even if your teammates vote you off. Whoever finds it will become THE most powerful player in Total Drama history!...Is the cleft on my chin really that big?"

"Yup. And it looks like a butt," says Scott.

Chris looks furious. "Moving ON! Time for the team names."

"Team Lightning!" Lightning suggests. "No- Lightning SQUAD!"

"Great suggestions Lightning," Chris says, "but, names have already been chosen by mwa. Team A, you shall henceforth be known as- the_ Toxic Rats_."

"Heheh, killer," Sam says.

"And Team B, you are hereby dubbed, the _Mutant Maggots_."

There is silence among the campers. Mike speaks up, "Uh, what's with all the references to chemical waste?"

Suddenly, the animal growls seem much more nearby.

"It's the monster!" Cameron yelps.

"The mon-_sters_, you mean," Chris says. "And to answer your question Mike, you'll see. I rented the island out to a company, and the company's product had a little effect on the flora and fauna. Now, before we start our very first challenge, let's give out some rewards. Lightning, 'cause you made it up here before anyone else, your team gets a trampoline! And the Rats get the hacksaw."

Chef is bouncing on the trampoline with the hacksaw, but bounces too far and falls off. Anne Maria laughs and receives a hacksaw in the face. Lightning catches the trampoline thrown at him and says, "Sha-sweet!"

Chris pulls out a bomb engraved with his face. "What do these items have to do with this bomb? Find out when we come back, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

"He won't really blow us up again, will he?" Mike asks.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE (The Drama Geek)

(*Note: I firmly don't believe MPD is a stereotype, so I changed his label completely. I got the new label from Mike acting as though his different personalities were intentional in the canon season.)

"Okay, my first confessional!" Mike runs a hand through his wild hair. "I guess I should have expected the amount of exercise we're doing, having watched the show a thousand times before, heh. I've always been pretty bad at remembering stuff. It's a little awkward with the other contestants right now since none of us know each other, but Cameron and Zoey seem nice. Dawn, I'm actually a bit afraid of. I mean, how was she able to see into Zoey's life like that? It's just- strange. Not that I should be talking." He laughs lightly.

* * *

NOTE: Progress reports about the next chapter are always on my profile. Also, reviews and feedback are most appreciated. :-)


	2. Bigger! Badder! Brutal-er! (Part 2)

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Dakota, Sam, Staci, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, B, Lightning

The teams stand under two large totem poles hung by rope to opposite trees. "These are your team totems," Chris says. "Cut them down and get 'em to the river and ride 'em back to the campground. First team there gets their pick of the cabins. But hurry! The totems are rigged with bombs that'll explode if you don't plant them in front of your cabin in seven minutes or less. Starting, now."

The bombs start beeping by the second.

The Mutant Maggots' totem has an ax stuck in it, meant for cutting the rope. "Alright, let's do this! Yah!" Jo flips onto the trampoline and flies into the river, drawing raised eyebrows from her teammates.

"Stand back. Lightning is ON IT!" Lightning says, starting to climb the tree.

"You might wanna wait for one of us to get the ax first," Zoey suggests, to no effect.

"The jocks sure are eager," Scott snarks to Mike.

Mike shrugs, looking up at the looming totem pole. "At least they're doing something." His sensible reply makes Scott scowl.

Jo comes back dripping all over. "Someone else wanna give the trampoline a turn while I dry off?" she asks dryly.

"I'll go," Scott declares. He gets on the trampoline, crouches down, and launches himself upward on one high bounce.

CRACK! He smashes into the bottom of the totem, making the team cringe. And again. And again. B kicks the trampoline away then, and Scott lands onto the grass.

"Ohhh," he moans.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT (The Troublemaker)

Scott rubs his head painfully. "Remind me never to listen to _Mike_ again," he grumbles. "Lucky I didn't get a concussion. Anyway, I've been coming up with a plan that's sure to wipe the strongest players out of the competition. And since those two happen to be Jo and Lightning, I'll have to sabotage my own team to vote them off." A grin is taking shape on his face. "Talk about fun for Scottie. They won't even know what hit 'em!"

* * *

Meanwhile with the Toxic Rats, the teens stand quietly looking at each other.

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Anne Maria asks, raising her arms and the hacksaw in the air.

"All we need is one person who can climb the tree with the hacksaw and we're golden," Cameron says.

"I volunteer for the duty," says Brick. "While I was in military training we had daily ladder-climbing races, sometimes while holding guns."

"That sounds pretty close to climbing a tree with a hacksaw to me," Sam says.

"Alrighty then, Brick should climb," Cameron decides. Anne Maria hands over the hacksaw to Brick, who begins his ascent up the tree.

"My great great grandfather Edmund invented hacksaws," Staci says. "Before him, people used to hack everything with knives, which were invented by my great great-"

"Aunt Annie?" Dawn says.

"Yah! Do you know her?"

"No, not really."

"Well, she contributed a lot to modern society, like, before her people used to just cut everything with rocks like cave people."

"That's nice," Dawn says, trying to sound sincere. "How about you? Do you want to be an inventor like your, um, great great grandfather and great great aunt?"

Staci opens her mouth- and pauses. "Uh, hm... I dunno..." She creases her eyebrows. "I haven't really thought about it."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: BRICK (The Cadet)

"I may be one of the strongest players here due to my military training," Brick says, "but I'm all about the teamwork. Back in Cadets I took the Teamwork medal, the Flag-Folding medal, and the Letters Home to Mom medal! I always win that one." He smiles in remembering.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAWN (The Moonchild)

"Staci's aura is a burnt sienna, full of nervous energy," Dawn says. "If I keep steering her toward other topics besides her ancestors, it might do some good for her spirit. I can't cure her habit of lying though- only a therapist could do that."

* * *

"Okay, you know what? I'm done with this." Jo gets on the trampoline and bounces once, twice, then lunges for the ax on the third bounce. Grabbing its handle, she swings her body back and forth to dislodge it. Her teammates watch as the ax comes out of the totem and she falls to the trampoline.

She lands on her feet. All the Maggots except Lightning cheer, as he is too high up the tree to see. "Here Lightning!" Jo shouts, throwing the ax so that it lodges in wood a few yards below him.

"Lightning doesn't need no ax!" he claims. "He can just untie the rope!"

"The ax will make you go faster, birdbrain."

A frowning Lightning backtracks to retrieve it.

Cameron looks up at Lightning on the Maggots' tree. "Lightning's going to reach the Maggots' totem in about 20 seconds," he says. "Brick'll take about 35 seconds to reach ours."

Dakota is away getting her picture taken while Chef saws down a thick tree. It tilts over onto the ground between her and the paparazzi. "Hey!" she yelps.

"Chris's orders," Chef says gruffly. A little pink squirrel jumps out from the fallen tree near Dakota.

"Awwh," she says, then shrieks as the squirrel blinks its eyes into vertical slits.

Several of the Rats turn around. Dawn gasps as the animal blinks again. "Oh my gosh! What's wrong with it?"

"It must have something to do with our team names," Anne Maria says. "It sure _looks _like a mutant."

"Weird...I want one!" Dakota says. She crouches closer to the squirrel, which shoots lightning from its eyes at her. She screams and jumps backward.

"Only radioactive exposure could cause that effect in an animal," Cameron says, watching it now. "Maybe the company that Chris mentioned is a bio hazardous waste company."

"My great great great great aunt Millie invented bio hazardous waste," Staci says. "Before her, people used to only deal with ordi-"

"Can it, Staci," Anne Maria says irritably. The team sighs in relief.

The squirrel scampers toward the tree Brick is climbing. Every Rat watches with horror as it begins to go up. "BRICK, WATCH OUT!" they all shout.

"Watch out for what?" he asks, looking down. He blinks. "Is that a naked squirrel?"

"Climb! Faster!" Sam yells. Brick speeds up.

B points in alarm at Brick on the opposite tree. "The other team's gaining on us!" Mike interprets, starting to shudder throughout his body. He gasps for air.

He hunches over with his eyes squinted. "Ah, durn it," he gripes in a sharp withered tone, "cut the danged rope already."

Zoey, Scott, and B all give him weird looks. Jo whirls around. "That's what we're _doing _Mike, whatever your name is," she snaps.

"Mike? The name's Chester," Chester says. "And you watch your tone there missy. Didn't your folks ever teach you respect for your elders?"

"What the heck?" says Scott.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY (The Try-Hard Loner)

(*Note: Yep, I fully changed Zoey's stereotype too. It's hard to be an "indie chick" when you have so many unique people on the show.)

"Wow! I can't believe I'm actually in the Total Drama confessional, it's so exciting!" Zoey lets out. Then she regains her composure. "So- I don't really get Mike's old man comedy routine, but I bet it's really funny if you're from like, France or something. Or maybe I was just tense and didn't notice the humor in it. I've been feeling kinda nervous around everyone- I hope they all like me. I could really use some new friends, or, friends period...oh, what if they all hate me?" She worries at the pink felt clip in her hair. "Maybe this flower was too big. Am I trying too hard?" She looks head-on at the camera. "_You_ like me, right?"

* * *

"Lightning's made it!" Lightning says, perching on the branch where the rope is tied. He hacks at the knot with the ax, and on the third hack the rope gives way, releasing the totem.

"Quick, the trampoline," Jo commands. The Maggots center the trampoline under where Lightning's sitting. He jumps down through the air, getting a springy landing on the trampoline. Jo sprints to the fallen totem and places her hands against its side. "To the river!" Every member follows her lead, Lightning running over to join them as they push.

Brick reaches the rope dangling the other totem just as the squirrel approaches him. **ZZT! **It shoots lightning near him.

"AHH!" he shrieks, crawling away from it. The squirrel gives chase on the branch, trying to zap him as he scurries down the rope onto the totem.

A shot of lightning hits the rope, sizzling it away. Brick plummets along with the totem to the ground, it landing with a loud thump.

He looks down at his teammates and salutes them from the top of the totem. "Mission accomplished."

He joins his team as they begin pushing their totem toward the river. The Maggots are way ahead of them, now heaving their own totem into the water. "Victory is mine- I mean ours!" Jo says as her team climbs aboard and starts moving.

"Hurry, they're getting away!" says Dakota. The Rats shove with all their might; their totem drops in the river with a _plunk_. Each person climbs on, except Cameron who's struggling to. Brick and Sam each lift one of his arms to pull him up.

Cameron expresses his thanks. "Never leave a man behind," Brick replies, smiling.

"More like a little boy," Anne Maria mutters.

The two totems rapidly accelerate in the river currents. The Maggots are the first to experience the waterfall up ahead. "Ah, kids today and their crazy log rides," Chester says as everyone else howls in terror. They fly in midair while hugging their totem for dear life.

A few seconds pass before the Rats reach the falls too. "My first waterfall!" Cameron cheers before screaming with the rest of his team.

The Maggots' totem strikes a hill and leaps back into the air, throwing Zoey's legs out from under her. "HELP!" she shouts, clinging on to the edge by her fingers.

Chester gasps and reverts to Mike. "Huh?" Mike says, looking around. Spying a flash of red hair behind him, he reaches out for Zoey's hand and tugs her back to sitting position.

She's hyperventilating. "T-t-thanks," she manages to get out.

Mike looks bewildered, but he nods and turns back to face front.

The Rats are catching up. B motions for his team to lean forward, to which they oblige. Soon the Rats copy them, and the group of seven keep gaining on the six Maggots.

Back at the cabins, Chris and Chef sit outside in white lounge chairs. "Ahhh. Feels good to be back," Chris says.

A panting sound is heard, and getting closer. Owen enters the campground and stops, leaning heavily on his knees. "Hey Chris! Get this: the boat wouldn't stop," he laments.

"Oh look! It's former player Owen who's _not_ competing this year," Chris says to the camera.

"Heheh, yeah! So I swam back to tell y- WHAT?! NOT COMPETING?"

"I'm afraid you and the other 'classic' players have outlived your usefulness."

"But- but how? Whyyy?" Owen wails. Suddenly he perks up. "Hey, can I be an intern?"

"Mm, well..." Chris looks over to Chef, who just shrugs. "Er...I guess."

"Whoo hoo!" Owen raises a fist in the air. "This place here is paradise man! Whoo HOO!"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CHRIS (The Sadistic Host)

"Yeah yeah, I know I said the old competitors have outlived their usefulness, but we can always use more interns," Chris says. "The show'll also get higher ratings this way, y'know?"

* * *

The Rats' totem slides into the campground. "Quick, grab the better cabin!" Sam says. They lift the totem over to a stump between the two cabins and place it down vertically.

_Beep. _The time bomb stops ticking.

The team cheers and high-fives each other just as a long shadow flies overhead. The Maggots tumble off their totem before it sails into the majestic white cabin; the bomb on the totem detonates.

**BOOM!** The cabin explodes into charred bits.

There is a stunned silence among the campers. "Too bad..." Chris says. "It had an eight-person hot tub and air conditioning!" The Toxic Rats groan.

"Yah, my great great great uncle James invented log cabins," Staci babbles. "Before him people had to sleep in the trees and they kept falling off all the time. And my great great great aunt Phillis invented roofs, and before her houses were just walls and furniture. And every time it rained you had to get a new sofa!"

Her teammates wear looks of displeasure on their faces.

"_Regardless_," Chris says, "as the only team with a cabin still standing, the Mutant Maggots win the first challenge!"

The winning team's hurrahs are subdued, as they're disoriented from the rough landing they had.

"That ain't fair!" Anne Maria shouts. "We got to the cabins first, _they_ should be eliminating a team member tonight."

"Well, since your cabin got blown up, it's like your arrival never happened," Chris sneers. "But no worries! We got a backup cabin for you. It's every bit as nice as the one you lost."

Chef flies over in a helicopter with a cabin dangling beneath it, dropping the replacement among the rubble. It's exactly the same as the Maggots' cruddy cabin.

"Rats, I'll see you at the campfire tonight for our first elimination ceremony of the season." Chef lands the helicopter, on which Chris climbs aboard. The chopping sound of the helicopter fades away as they fly off.

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

Scott, Lightning, Mike, and B find their luggage gathered in the middle of the room. Scott peels his suitcase off the top of the pile. "Smells just like home," he muses, breathing in the musty cabin scent.

"You mean you live on a stinky farm?" Lightning says scornfully, taking a sniff and gagging.

"Yeah!" Scott says, looking at Lightning in surprise. Both B and Mike are quiet as they grab their suitcases and pick a bunk.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

Mike rests his chin in his hands, a contemplative look on his face. "So I suddenly regain consciousness in the middle of the challenge, and find myself riding the totem with my team down a hill. I was stunned then, but now I just think it's a miracle that I stayed on the totem."

* * *

Zoey and Jo are the only ones on the girls' side of the cabin.

Zoey checks herself in front of the bathroom mirror, adjusting her pigtails and flower clip. Jo is doing push ups on the floor, counting them to herself.

"Fifty-seven!... Fifty-eight!... Fifty-nine!" she grunts. Zoey peeks out from around the bathroom door.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

"Jo is pretty intimidating," Zoey admits. "We haven't talked to each other at all yet, we're just minding our own business."

* * *

**TOXIC RATS' CABIN**

The females have claimed their bunks with their luggage: Anne Maria and Staci take the top while Dakota and Dawn take the bottom.

Anne Maria purses her lips, looking around the cabin room. Dawn is brushing her hair, Dakota is taking a nap, and Staci is sitting while adjusting the hair ribbon on her head. "So, who're you guys thinkin' of votin' off?" Anne Maria inquires.

Dawn hesitates. "I'm not sure yet," she says.

"Well, I'm gonna vote for Miss Chatterbox here-" Anne Maria points at Staci, who goes still- "or the scrawny kid, Caleb or somethin'."

"His name's Cameron," Dawn says. "And why do you say that?"

"I think the reason for my first choice is obvious, no offense Staci," she says. "But Cameron- have you _seen_ him? He's a total weakling!"

"That may be the case, but he's very intelligent beyond his years," Dawn points out. "We might need his abilities in the near future."

"Can you keep it down? If I don't get my beauty sleep I'll lose it!" Dakota whines, wearing a sleeping mask over her eyes.

"Whatever Blondie," Anne Maria scoffs at Dakota.

The males are more cordial to each other in the guys' room of the cabin. "Man, it stinks that we have to vote someone off on the first day," Sam says, lying on the top bunk with his GameGuy.

"Agreed soldier," Brick says. "Back in Cadets no one was booted out on the first week, ever."

"Should we vote off one of the girls?" Cameron asks.

"I'm voting for Staci. Her chatter can get pretty annoying," Sam remarks.

"You have a point there," Brick admits, "but there's also Dakota to consider. She gets distracted easily, which could interfere with the team effort."

"Aw no, not Dakota! She's nice _and_ she's a level ten hottie!" says Sam.

"We'll see what happens tonight," says Cameron. "I know who I'm voting for."

* * *

The Toxic Rats sit on seven individual stumps by the blazing campfire, the night surrounding the area. Their faces are lit, their expressions solemn.

Chris stands at a podium on the other side of the flames. He holds up a tray of marshmallows. "The votes are cast," he says. "Those who receive a regular marshmallow will stay. But this season, one player will receive a very _special_ marshmallow. A marshmallow you do NOT want to eat." He motions to Chef, who bears a small chest; Chef flips open the lid.

The marshmallow inside glows an ominous green. "Whoever receives the marshmallow of toxic loserdom is out of the contest," Chris declares. "Which means, you can never come back. Eh-ver. The following players are safe."

"Brick." Brick stands up, looking relieved.

"Dawn." Dawn rises from her seat.

"Sam." Sam gets up and walks behind Dawn and Brick to Chris with the tray.

The three called have soon taken their marshmallows. "Everyone else got at least one vote, heheh," Chris chuckles. Cameron, Anne Maria, Dakota, and Staci all exchange worried looks.

"Cameron."

"Phew!" Cameron says, retrieving his marshmallow.

"Anne Maria."

"You'll pay, whoever voted for me," Anne Maria warns as she stands up from her stump. Staci gulps.

"And the glowing marshmallow of toxic loserdom goes to..." Dakota takes out a file and feverishly applies it to her nails. Staci clasps her hands together and lifts them up, pleading.

The moment drags on. Chris eyes them both and smiles, tray with one white marshmallow behind his back. He opens his mouth and speaks.

"_Staci._" Chef throws the glowing marshmallow at Staci, who catches it. Dakota squeals and runs over to Chris for the last treat.

"Aww, but I was doing so good!" Staci mourns, standing up and cupping the marshmallow. Her hair falls to the ground, and every camper gasps.

Only a ribbon remains around her head. She sighs. "I guess it's the Dock of Shame for me then."

"Actually, we came up with something _new_ this season!" Chris says. "You'll looove it."

* * *

**HURL OF SHAME**

A towering catapult sits at the end of the dock. "Say hello to the Hurl of Shame!" Chris says. "Patent-pended."

The Rats watch as Staci climbs into the deep scoop. "Bye Staci!" Dawn says with regret in her tone.

"Bye Dawn, bye everyone!" Staci says. "You know, my great great gra-"

_Wham! _The scoop launches Staci high over the lake, quivering from the impact.

"One down, twelve to go," Chris says, facing the camera. "Who's next in line? Find out next time, right here on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"


	3. Truth or Laser Shark (Part 1)

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Dakota, Sam, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, B, Lightning

ELIMINATED: Staci

**RECAP**

Chris stands on the dock, speaking to the camera audience. "Last time on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!: Thirteen new competitors were blown away by this year's challenge. They were treated to an early morning swim, said hello to the island's wildlife, and did some totem swimming. Explosive! In the end, Staci's team got so sick of her nonstop tall tales that they sent her packing- Hurl of Shame style. Who will go home next? How much pain can I put them through first? Find out right now, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

Out of the four males on the team, only B is sleeping peacefully. Scott's bunk is vacant, while Mike grumbles in his sleep, not sounding quite like himself.

"These young whippersnappers, with all their yammerin' and tomfoolery," Chester complains. Lightning in the bed above groans quietly, turning sideways.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING (The Athletic Overachiever)

There are dark bags under Lightning's eyes, which bulge out white in anger. "If Lightning knew that Mike was a sleep talker, he would've parked on the other side of the room!" he snaps. "He kept waking up at random times throughout the night thanks to Mike. Why does the dude talk in that weird old man's voice?... Lightning doesn't even wanna _know_ what he dreamed about."

* * *

SLAM! All three males sit up, alert. Their eyes land on Scott who has flattened himself against the door, shivering all over.

"Hey, Scott," Lightning greets the enterer. "Where were y- uh, what's with all the dirt?"

"Oh, well..." Scott acquires a smirk in his features. "Just had an early morning _make out_ session with one of the honeys."

"Sha-dizzy!" Lightning says appreciatively; he leaps from his bunk and lands in front of Scott. "Which one?"

"Umm." _A spiky-backed beaver monster sprints after a shrieking Scott through the woods. _"A gentleman doesn't kiss and tell," he remarks, contradicting his memory.

"You're a gentleman?" Mike yawns, earning a glare from the redhead.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"Alright," Scott relents. "I was out looking for that hidden immunity item. Not that they need to know. It's all part of my strategy- let my team lose so I can vote off our strongest teammates with the guarantee I'll be safe from elimination. While I work on my team, the Maggots will also develop a false sense of security- until I _pick 'em off_!" Something scrapes at the door from the outside. "Occu-pied!" he yells.

The same beaver that chased him bashes its huge head through the wood. Scott recoils against the wall. "AHHHH!"

* * *

**TOXIC RATS' CABIN**

Dawn sits on her bunk meditating while the other females take up the bathroom. She opens one blue eye to the sound of Dakota's coughing behind the bathroom door.

"Do you mind keeping your hairspray fumes to yourself?" Dakota retorts. "I'm practically suffocating here."

"Deal with it, Blondie," Anne Maria sneers.

"Um, rude! Can you at _least_ get your orange-y self out of my light please?"

"Oh no. No. You did not disrespect the tan. It is ON!" Dakota's shriek pierces the air, followed by a heavy thud and cat-screeching noises. Dawn climbs down her bunk and races to the source of the commotion.

She yanks the door open. "Stop!" she cries out. Anne Maria and Dakota are grappling with each other on the tile floor, the former on top of the latter.

Dawn pulls Anne Maria away from Dakota, sending them both to the floor. "What do ya think you're doin'?" Anne Maria snaps.

"We cannot be fighting amongst each other!" Dawn says. "If we wanna win today's challenges, we have to try and get along as a team."

"Just keep her away from my face," Dakota says, smoothing her hair down. "I need it for the cameras." Anne Maria growls low under her breath.

In the males' bedroom of the cabin, Brick's bed is deserted. Cameron is looking out from his cocoon of a sleeping bag while Sam snores, clutching his Gameguy to his chest.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I had a hard time falling asleep," Cameron admits. "It was my first night outside my bubble. But finally I recreated it with my sleeping bag, and I was out like that!" He snaps his fingers and smiles. "What an adventure!"

* * *

The camera view shows Brick jogging toward the cabin area on one side, and Jo jogging on the other. Both shut their eyes and power themselves forward- into each other.

"OW!" They both yelp as they crash to the ground.

Jo is holding her head and breathing hard. "Just did my 5k run. You?"

"8k!" Brick says, rubbing his crew cut.

"I mean I did an 8k warm up, then 5k at a full sprint."

"My entire run was uphill."

"Yeah, uphill with my eyes_ shut_!"

"I ran backwards with earplugs!"

"Why earplugs?"

"I dunno!"

"Team Maggot is lucky to have me," Jo brags. "I led them to victory in the challenge yesterday."

Brick smiles. "Good for you."

Jo blinks. She stands up. "Well, be prepared to lose again with me on the other team," she taunts.

Brick gets on his feet. "We'll see about that soon enough."

Jo and Brick split apart to their cabins.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"Brick can't lead his own team, he's too big a softie," Jo says. "He lacks the aggression a leader needs to go the distance. Just watch, I'll snap him like this-" She snaps a branch, flinches, and examines her hand. "Ow! Splinter! Why you little-"

* * *

**HOOOOOONK! **Campers immediately pile out of their cabins, grouching about the obnoxious air horn. Chris stands waiting in front of them. "Up and at 'em, my little morning glories," he mocks. "Time for today's challenge."

"What? But Lightning hasn't had his D-P-A!" Lightning says. His team gives him strange looks.

"Um, what's that?" Mike asks.

"Daily Protein Allotment? Duh." Lightning folds his arms.

"You can catch up on your Z's and DPA _after_ the challenge," Chris says. He gets into his ATV. "Right this way, to the Bay of Dismay."

Dakota makes a call on her cellphone. "Hey! It's me. We're going to some bay or s-"

Her phone is fished out of her hand by Chris's magnetic fishing rod. "Heeey!" she complains. While Sam is also on his Gameguy, Chris takes his device too.

"Console ban!" Chris says. "Now it's mine- confiscators keepers. C'mon! Your humiliation awaits."

* * *

The campers follow in one big group behind Chris's car in the forest. "The Bay of Dismay? Yikes!" Zoey exclaims. "Kind of sounds like one of those fight locations in Total Warriors 2."

"What are you, some kind of movie geek?" Jo says, squinting at her.

"You like action movies?" Mike inquires.

"They're a hobby of mine," Zoey reveals, looking back and forth between the two.

"Heheh, cool," Mike says, smiling. "I like them too."

Zoey relaxes as Jo turns away. "What's your favorite?"

"The first Total Warriors movie," he says. "Gotta stick to the original."

"Even if the sequel turns out to be better?"

"Hey, the sequel still got its roots from the first. Besides, only the _action_ part is better."

"Which is what the whole movie's about!" she laughs.

"Not the entire movie, what about the acting, plot, setting, et cetera?" Mike is ticking the list contents on his fingers; he drops his hand. "We should just agree to disagree."

"Agreed, truce," Zoey says, sticking out her hand; Mike shakes it. They continue walking alongside each other.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Okay, the second Total Warriors movie WAS better," Mike concedes. "Though the acting was better in the first Total Warriors- you could totally believe the warriors were real. I always re-watch it for that reason."

* * *

Sam walks into stride with Dakota. "Hey Dakota! You know, I'm just so taken by your beautiful- nostrils."

Dakota scrunches her face up.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SAM

"Nostrils. _Nostrils_?" Sam says, putting his arms up to the sky.

* * *

"Thanks!" Dakota manages. "I like your, uh..." She grimaces. "Can I get back to you on that?"

"Ohhh," Sam sighs as she strides ahead.

"I hope this isn't another physical challenge," Cameron says to Jo beside him. "I prefer something a little more- academic."

"I bet you do, toothpick," Jo mocks. "I'm surprised your scrawny neck can even support that giant head."

"My greatest strengths are mental!" Cameron says, clear anger in his voice.

"Well, you're mental if you think you can win Total Drama without getting physical. Just stay out of my way." Jo leaves him behind.

Lightning soon jogs up to take Cameron's place. "Woah. Why were you being so harsh to the little girl?" he asks Jo.

"Toothpick's a _guy_, genius," Jo says. "And haven't you ever heard of taunting the other team?"

"Sure, Lightning's done that before in his football games. But Cameron's not tough like us men, so Lightning would cut the girl- er, guy- some slack if he were you."

"Who are you calling a man?" she snarls.

"Um, us?" Lightning looks confused.

Anne Maria tries to engage B in conversation. "So what do ya think the challenge is gonna be?" B purses his lips and doesn't reply. "You don't talk much, do ya?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: B (The Strong Silent Genius)

B helplessly shrugs.

* * *

In the challenge arena, everyone sits in rows of seats separated by teams. Each camper eyes the individual red buzzer in front of them, as well as the body of water surrounding them below. A massive screen resides in the front wall facing the arena, and Chris stands underneath it.

"Welcome to the Getting to Know You trivia game challenge!" Chris proclaims. "Is everyone strapped in all nice and snug?"

"Too snug!" Scott says, struggling with his harness. "It's cutting into my shoulders!"

"Yeah, children-size harnesses will do that." Chris laughs and turns to the camera. "I'll be asking our players embarrassing personal questions, and I mean _majorly humiliating_. If the player I'm talking about hits the poorly-wired buzzer and owns their humiliation before the time runs out, their team gets a point. First team to five wins Part One and a distinct advantage in Part Two. But, if no one owns up, _this_ happens!" Chris presses a remote button with a thumb, sending Team Maggot's side underwater.

The members plunged look around and see nothing- until a shark rises up in front of them, jaws open wide. They all let out gurgled screams as they're thrust back up to the surface, the shark biting empty air.

"There's some kind of two-legged shark monster down there!" Mike sputters, looking terrified as the rest of the team.

"You mean Fang?" Chris says. "Heheh, yeah. It turns toxic waste can mess with stuff underwater too. Who knew? Anywho, if the team gets dumped, the opponents can _steal_ by guessing which dunk-ee is guilty. Guess right, and you get a point. Guess wrong and-" Chris presses the button again, dunking the Toxic Rats into the water- "that happens. Now that we understand the rules, let's start the game!"

"To the Rats!" Chris addresses the freshly-soaked team. "Now listen carefully: Who did this on the one and only date they ever had?" The question mark showing on the screen lets out a noisy fart with green gas, making many of the teens laugh.

Sam flushes red all over. "Where did you _get_ that?" he says as he presses his buzzer. He gets a shock. "Ow!"

"The Rats get the first point! Okay, Maggots: Whose real name is Beverly?

After a while, B buzzes in, glumly raising his hand.

"Correct,_ Beverly_. Maggots get the point. But, I would've preferred a verbal response. So as a quick punishment-" The Toxic Rats get dunked, pausing at the water's sandy bottom.

Fang races over and engulfs Scott in the bottom row. As the team rises back up, Scott pries open Fang's jaws and swims out. "No! Wait for me!" he screams through the water.

Zoey helps Scott up onto the seats. He winces as he sits down beside her, and reaches down to pull a sharp object out of his butt. "Oww," he moans, then furrows his eyebrows at the find. "A shark tooth?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: FANG (The Two-Legged Shark Monster)

Fang holds up a hand mirror, lifting a fin to his tooth gap. He snaps the mirror in half. "_Grrrrrr._"

* * *

"Rats: Who wet their pants on the first, AND last day of school?" The screen now displays an image of jeans wet in the front, and laughter among the campers fills the air.

Brick bites his lip, looking around. He presses his buzzer and feels a spark. "Yow! Fine, it was me." Spare giggles follow his statement.

"Maggots: Who needs to see THREE therapists?"

Lightning whistles. "Someone here's got problems." The rest of the Maggots are quiet. Dawn stares at a certain Maggot over the water, causing him to look away.

"Time's up," Chris says with a grin. The team takes a dive.

They soon break the surface, gasping and spitting out water. "It's him who's guilty," Anne Maria shouts, pointing at a dripping wet Lightning.

He glares at her. "Hey! Just because Lightning said something doesn't mean it's him."

"Oooh, sorry Anne Maria," Chris says, smiling with glee. "Your wrong answer will cost ya." The Rats go under, and rise up glowering at Anne Maria.

"It's two to one," Chris announces, looking overhead at the scoreboard. "Rats, you're in the lead. Next question: Who is not a natural blonde?" The screen shows a brown wig with blonde dye sliding off it.

The Rats look at their two candidates: Dawn and Dakota. Dakota is talking on what seems to be a backup phone. "I would never pollute the water with toxic dye chemicals," Dawn informs her teammates.

"You're out of time, Rats!" Chris says, pressing his remote once more. When they come back to the surface, everyone on the team directs deep scowls at Dakota.

"Aw, come on!" she groans, watching her waterlogged cellphone short out. "You're going to pay for my new phone, Chris! Make that TWO phones!"

"Not according to this contract!" Chris waves a pile of papers in the air. He lowers his arm to check his watch. "We're running low on time, which means that: Maggots, this will be the last question. If you get the point, you and the Rats will receive a tiebreaker question. If you don't, the Rats win Part One of this challenge. The final question: Who was once a cheerleader?"

"Ugh, I hate cheerleaders," Jo says, crossing her arms. No one touches their buzzer.

"What a shame," Chris says with fake sympathy. The Maggots take the plunge. Scott screams as Fang hurries toward him; he and his team ascend before the mutant shark can reach him.

"The Rats win two to one!" Chris declares. "You guys will get a major advantage in Part Two of the challenge. Stay tuned to see all of Part Two's slips, trips, and plenty of hits, right here on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

"The last word didn't rhyme," Scott says snidely.

"Zip it!" the host shouts.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Having three different therapists isn't bad!" Mike protests. "My psychiatrist gives me my medications, my psychologist works out the complications in my brain, and my counselor's my confidant for whenever I'm having a hard time dealing with...it." He looks at the camera. "None of the other contestants will see this, right?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAWN

"I sensed a disturbance in Mike for one of the questions," Dawn says. "I didn't point him out because it's linked to something he really wants to keep under wraps. I didn't expose Jo either, since it would've been a blow to her already-fragile confidence. I'm just relieved my consideration didn't cost my team the challenge."

* * *

The campers are walking again on the forest path. "Thank goodness the challenge ended before Chris could ask _me_ any embarrassing questions!" Cameron says to his team.

"Let me guess," Jo calls out, "'who needs their diaper changed?'"

"I haven't worn a diaper since I was eleven!" Cameron squeaks. The group erupts in laughter.

"Challenge is over. You don't have to keep humiliating yourself," Brick informs, smiling.

"No, please, go on," Jo laughs. "Or does Baby need his bottle?"

Cameron's eyebrows draw together as he narrows his eyes. "I have just as much right to be here as you!" he shouts. "And I'll prove it in the next challenge. You'll see!"

* * *

NOTE: Yup, there's quite a few confessionals here! There will be little to none in the next chapter due to all the action in it.


	4. Truth or Laser Shark (Part 2)

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Dakota, Sam, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, B, Lightning

ELIMINATED: Staci

The teams arrive at a wooden ramp leading onto a low platform structure that stretches on beyond their vision. Every teen looks more alert as they register the colossal swinging boot near the start line.

Chris walks over to a grassy area above the surrounding mud. "Welcome players!" he says. "Now that you're all here, it's time for Part Two of today's challenge: The Mad Skills Obstacle Course. The relay race begins with a mad dash from the Kickstart." He motions to the boot in front of the campers. "Forget coffee- if this baby doesn't get you going, nothing will."

"Then it's off to the race against time that is the Cannonball Run." Rows of cannons are hung by wooden beams over the target area.

"Over to my personal fav, Wrecking Ball Alley! Hurts _so good_." A wrecking ball sways above a line of rolling logs.

"And moving on, we head to the Gang Plank. Complete with rabid mutant beavers." Each precarious plank is at jumping distance from the other. Spiky-backed beavers wait at the muddy bottom, gnashing their teeth.

"Followed by the bouncy agony of Double Trouble." Four red balls take turns springing up and down.

"And finally- the Grand Slam. Where you'll use ropes to swing into the giant baseball mitt, while avoiding those deadly bats. Piece of cake! The losing team gets to wear snazzy specs while competing, heheh." Chef carries a box of glasses, which the Mutant Maggots dig into.

"Hey, what's with the grandpa glasses?" Jo says, squinting at her pair. She puts them on and looks around. "We won't be able to see anything wearing these!"

Zoey puts on hers. "These are pretty cool actually! I have a pair like these at home."

"Dorktacular goggles won't make Part Two easy- or attractive. But it can be done, _in theory_." Chris chuckles. "Competitors, take your positions!"

The camera view flashes to the Kickstart. "First off at the Kickstart is Jo and Anne Maria." Anne Maria smiles at Jo, who's scowling with the glasses on.

"Then it's Scott versus Dawn at the Cannonball Run." Scott stares at the ground, trying to locate his feet.

"B faces Sam in Wrecking Ball Alley." B and Sam watch the wrecking ball swing near them, blowing wind past their faces.

"Zoey is up against Brick at the Gang Plank." Brick clutches Zoey as they stand on the first plank, both looking down anxiously.

"Mike and Dakota will battle Double Trouble." Dakota waves and smiles at the camera.

"And Lightning will fight Cameron for the Grand Slam. First team to finish wins the whole sha-bang, and the other team loses a member tonight. Since it's a relay race, you'll need something to pass: your mascots! Oh, intern!"

Owen runs over to the Kickstart, handling two beige pet carriers. Monstrous growls come from inside them, and Anne Maria and Jo glance at each other. "Here!" Owen yelps, lifting a beagle-sized maggot to Jo, who takes it. Anne Maria receives a naked rabid rat; both contestants hold their mascots far away from them.

"And, GO!" Chris blows his air horn.

**THWACK! **The boot knocks Anne Maria into the sky. "AHHHH-" Her scream is muffled by the mud she lands in.

Jo runs ahead, jumping over the platform gap. "Go, go!" she shouts, thrusting the maggot at Scott.

"Alright!" he snaps, taking the slimy creature. Just as he enters the Cannonball Run, a cannonball hurtles toward him.

"Whoa!" Scott ducks. Two cannons fire together, then three more. "Agh!" he yells, running away from the barrage.

"Other way!" Jo says, shoving him back to the course. A cannonball hits him in the stomach, and he goes down with a groan.

Chris acts as commentator with his loudspeaker. "MAGGOTS GOT AN EARLY LEAD, BUT SCOTT IS DOWN AND THE RATS ARE CATCHING UP!"

Anne Maria reaches Dawn; she shoves the mud-covered rat in Dawn's face. "Go!"

Dawn passes by Scott, who's on his knees clutching his stomach. All the cannons tilt toward her face. "Anybody wanna swap?" she peeps. The rat chitters to her, pointing at the nearest cannon. "What's that? Duck now?" She ducks just as the cannon shoots at her, the cannonball breaking a wooden pole.

"Lay it on me!" Sam says as Dawn approaches. She obliges, giving him the rat. Sam steps onto the first rolling log in Wrecking Ball Alley, his body wobbling to keep his balance.

Scott staggers over to B. "Here!" he gasps, passing on the maggot. B takes it and walks carefully behind Sam, both ducking as the wrecking ball hurtles toward them.

The rat is quivering with Sam's movement. It chomps down on his arm. "AH! I've been bit!" Sam yells, tipping sideways into the mud. The wrecking ball approaches behind B, who jumps just as it arrives.

It hits him to land right in front of Zoey. B gets up and hands Zoey the maggot, then dusts himself off.

"Nice moves back there! I never would've thought of that myself," Zoey says. B gives a thumbs up, and points ahead at the rest of the Gang Plank. "Oh, right. Sorry!" She leaves Brick as she jumps onto the second plank. She pauses at chomping sounds beneath her; the wood lifting the plank collapses, plummeting her into the beavers.

"HAHAH!" Chris laughs. "TOLD YA THIS WOULDN'T BE EASY."

Sam climbs back onto the platform and runs to the Gang Plank. "Here Brick," he says, holding the mud-caked rat over the gap between them.

"Sir yes sir!" Brick salutes and takes it. He crouches, then springs over where the second plank was, grabbing the edge of the next one. He heaves himself up onto the wood.

"Go Brick!" Sam pumps a fist in the air.

Brick crosses the rest of the planks. "Here you go ma'am," he says, trying to give the rat to Dakota.

She draws her hands back. "Ew! Can you at least wipe it _off_?" Brick raises an eyebrow, the rat limp in his grasp.

A beaver has apprehended Zoey from behind. "Please, let me go!" she cries. Another beaver takes out a bottle of ketchup and opens the cap. Zoey gasps.

"I said, _let me go_!" She kicks the beaver facing her in the crotch, and it falls over with a whimper. She lashes a foot out behind her and her holder lets go, joining the other beaver lying in the mud. Zoey cringes at the sight. "Ooh, sorry! But I did tell you to stop!"

Dakota now faces the camera, cradling the rat in her arms. "Well Dakota fans, here goes nothing!" She leaps onto the first ball. _Boing! Boing! Boing! Boing! _"Woooah!" She face-plants into the mud, just missing the platform.

She gets on her knees, staring at her wet brown clothes. She lifts her arms dripping in sludge. "_AAAAAAAAAAAH_!"

Zoey pulls herself onto the platform. "Mike!" she calls out.

He turns at her voice and runs over, receiving the maggot. "Thanks!" He sprints back toward the Double Trouble. As it gets closer and closer, his breathing grows fast and anxious. "Okay Mike. It's just some jumps over an area you can barely see," he coaxes. "You can do this, c'mon."

Mike gasps. He now holds his head high with shining eyes. Svetlana tiptoes quickly to the obstacle, holding the maggot over her head. "No, only one person can do dis: Svetlana! Ze Olympic Queen of gymnas-teeks!"

She conquers the Double Trouble in two flips. "A-a-a-a!" she sings shrilly upon landing. Lightning and Cameron gape at her.

"WOAH! MIKE UNVEILS A SECRET SKILL AND THE MAGGOTS RETAKE THE LEAD!" Chris says.

"Woah! How did you _do_ that?" Cameron says.

Svetlana gasps and reverts to Mike. "Huh?" he says, looking around and then back at the course. "Do what?" He laughs a little and gives the maggot to Lightning. "Here ya go!"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"I think I have a pretty good idea what happened," Mike says, and face palms. "_Svetlana_."

* * *

Dakota drops the rat into Cameron's arms. "The thing bit me! Twice!" she says, pointing at her neck.**  
**

"Ouch." Cameron winces before turning to face the Grand Slam. He watches as Lightning swings off the edge to the giant glove surrounded by giant baseball bats.

"Sha-yeah!" Lightning says. He swings too fast, flying over it. The rope falls back to where Cameron is standing.

Cameron strokes his chin. "Velocity times mass times wind speed equals..." He grabs the rope, walks back three steps, and jumps.

A strong breeze moves him toward one of the bats. "Uh oh- _oof_!" He crashes into it, dropping the rope. "I should've swung _during_ the wind blow," he moans.

"Have to swing softer," Lightning murmurs, getting back on the platform.

"You can do this Lightning!" Mike shouts.

"Yeah, yeah." Lightning frowns at Mike before swinging once more.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

"So apparently, Mike acts as an old man AND a female gymnast," Lightning says, raising an eyebrow. "He is one weird dude. Well, that's method actors for ya. My pops told me that once!"

* * *

Lightning flies in the direction of a bat. He twists around and leaps from the rope, tumbling into the glove from the side.

"THE MAGGOTS WIN!" Chris announces. "TO THE MAGGOTS GO THE SPOILS: MCLEAN-BRAND SHAMPOO AND CONDITIONER- GUARANTEED TO WASH OFF THE STINK. RATS, SEE YOU AT THE ELIMINATION CEREMONY."

"Way to come through for the team, Jockstrap!" Jo shouts in the distance. The Maggots clap and whistle in agreement.

"Told ya this team should've been named after me!" Lightning gloats, grinning in triumph.

The contestants walk off the obstacle course, Jo collecting the Maggots' reward from Chef. They all begin to head back toward their cabins.

Dawn walks up to Cameron along the path. "I sense negativity in your aura," she tells him. "It's not good for you to bottle up your feelings. What's wrong?"

He puts his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. "Oh, you know...I'm just sad I lost the challenge for our team."

"We all lost the challenge," Dawn corrects. "You can't just blame yourself."

"Yeah, I guess." Cameron sounds doubtful. "I pretty much proved Jo's point about having to get physical to win Total Drama."

"You also need smarts to win Total Drama. You have those."

"Well, I knew I would be at a physical disadvantage to the other contestants at least," Cameron says. "I just forgot to factor in the social disadvantage I might have as well, related to my height. I'm looked down upon, both literally _and_ figuratively."

"It's also your demeanor that makes you seem vulnerable," Dawn says. "Have confidence, try your best for our team, and you'll receive respect from everyone soon enough."

Cameron looks at her. "You make a good point there Dawn," he says, smiling. "Thank you!"

"No problem," she says as they arrive in the cabin area. "See you at the campfire!" She disappears into the girls' side of their cabin.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"Dawn's really nice," Cameron says. "We're also similar in some ways, like how we're both short and have high voices." He smiles. "Heh. I have a habit of making these connections."

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

Jo and Zoey lie down on opposite sides of the room. Jo has her back turned to Zoey while facing the wall.

Zoey stares at Jo's short blonde head, biting her lip. "Um," she starts. "Jo. Are you awake? Sorry if I'm disturbing you."

"As a matter of fact, you are." Jo turns to face her. "What do you want?"

"Well-" Zoey hesitates. "I think that if we want to perform better in the challenges, we should talk to each other more. Get to know each other. What do you think?"

"We already won today's and yesterday's challenge," Jo says, eyebrows creased in annoyance. "I don't see why it matters."

"I mean, if we want to have better teamwork- never mind. Forget I said anything."

"Good." Jo flips over again. Zoey's face is downcast.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"I'm not here to make friends," Jo declares. "Especially not with girly girl Red wearing that pink flower. What is she, a hippie wannabe?"

* * *

The Toxic Rats fill up the seats once more at the campfire. The atmosphere throbs with foreboding, the teens sneaking restless glances at each other.

"The votes are cast," Chris says, Chef beside him. "Everyone gets a marshmallow tonight- even the loser. But that loser will get a marshmallow they do NOT want to eat. Rats, you were also here last time, so you understand what these marshmallows signify." He holds up a tray of marshmallows. "_Safety_. Sweet, sweet relief. The following players are safe."

"Sam."

"Sweet relief!" Sam says, walking over to receive his marshmallow.

"Dawn." Dawn smiles and stands up.

"Brick."

Brick gets up and high-fives Dawn. "Nice job, teammate."

"Anne Maria."

"Which leaves, Dakota and Cameron," Chris says.

"What?" Dakota yelps, her green eyes wide.

"And the marshmallow of loserdom goes to..." Cameron rests his fists on his chin, staring at the last white marshmallow. Dakota is filing away at her nails once more. Chris slowly lifts one finger and points it at the voted-off contestant.

"_Dakota._"

Dakota leaps from her seat. "NO! This has to be a mistake!" she cries out. "I didn't get my spin-off series yet!" She sees Chef coming toward her with the toxic marshmallow and runs off. "NOOoooooo!"

Sam sadly watches her go.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SAM

"Man, I can't believe Dakota's gone!" Sam laments. "I was ready to repeatedly ask her out and get turned down all season!" He heaves a sigh.

* * *

**HURL OF SHAME**

"Any last words before you ride the Hurl of Shame, Dakota?" Chris asks.

Dakota shifts around in the catapult. "Um, yeah! _First_ of all- aaaaaaaah!" She is launched high through the sky.

"It was a rhetorical question." Chris chuckles and faces the camera. "Two hurls down, eleven to go! Who will be eliminated next? Tune in next time and find out, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

NOTE: You may have noticed a change in Brick and Lightning throughout the story, such as Brick being much more competent at challenges and Lightning being kinder to others. These are the "behavioral adjustments" I mentioned I would make at the beginning. ;-) Reasons being: If Brick was as accident-prone as he was in the canon, how on earth did he survive military school? And Lightning acted similar to how I'm portraying him in the beginning of the canon season, until he started to become meaner and more selfish (not to mention extremely dumb). I thought he would work much better as a team player with some arrogance, but a winning spirit.


	5. Ice Ice Baby (Part 1)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This story has reached 1,000 views! To everyone who has read, reviewed, favorited, followed, and recommended my story: _Thank you_. A special mention to WishStar, a reviewer who has given me several excellent suggestions. Another one to xebla, whose Total Drama All-Stars remake inspired me to make my own (of TDROTI). Go check his remake- it's the bomb!

Also, I've gotten several suggestions for Brick to be paired up with someone. All in due time, my readers, but it will come. :-) I liked the pairings in the canon, so I'm going to pretty much remain true to them. Only difference is, I'll be giving them more conflict and development.

* * *

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Sam, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, B, Lightning

ELIMINATED: Staci, Dakota

**RECAP**

Chris stands on the dock, beaming at the camera. "Last time on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!: We learned that although our campers are here to win, they're all losers in one way or another. Really, really big losers. It was a psychological butt-kicking that quickly turned literal!...then comical...then _hysterical_. Mwahahahah. But in the end, Dakota got the biggest boot of all-" He lifts one hand and curls his fingers mockingly- "buh byeee. I love my job! Stay tuned as more things blow up, more contestants throw up, and some even try to hook up." He makes a heart with his hands. "Right here, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

In the boys' side of the cabin, B is the only one sleeping. Scott's bunk is empty. Lightning is hanging over his top bunk, meeting eye to eye with Mike in the bed underneath. "Look Mike, can you stop practicing your characters throughout the entire night?"

Mike's eyebrows rise up to his forehead. "I was doing what? Uh, I mean, sorry about that Lightning. I'll keep quiet from now on."

"Great." Lightning pulls his head back up.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Okay, okay, I admit it." Mike rakes a hand through his severe bedhead and sighs. "I have Multiple Personality Disorder. It's the reason why I need all my therapists. I can't tell Lightning or anyone else because...well, they'll see me differently. That's the kind of thing I've been trying to get away from."

* * *

By the time it's seven in the morning, all the campers are in the main lodge eating breakfast. They are separated by teams at two tables.

"My grandma eats this every day," Zoey says, spooning up her gruel. She swallows it down and makes a face. "I'm not sure how."

"Must be an acquired taste," Mike says next to her, smiling at her expression. "Do you live with her?"

"My grandma? Yeah, just her and my hamster."

A silent second passes by between them. "How is she?" he asks.

"She's awesome! She's really caring and talkative, and her cooking is the best you've ever tasted. Well, actually, you haven't yet." Zoey laughs.

"She sounds really nice. When can I meet her?" Mike jokes.

"After Total Drama's over, if you want."

"I was joking about that," Mike says, letting out an embarrassed laugh.

Zoey's voice rises a note. "Oops! Sorry!"

"No, it's fine! I shouldn't have made that lame joke anyway."

At the Toxic Rats' table, Sam gulps down a spoonful of gruel- and chokes. He coughs it up onto Anne Maria's face. "Now I know why 'gruel' rhymes with 'cruel'," he says, looking at his bowl in distaste. Anne Maria glares at him until he finally looks up. "Oh. Sorry Anne Maria!" He gets clocked by her bowl.

Scott is chuckling at this.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

Scott is chipping at a stick with his shark tooth. "What a wimp," he sneers. "I grew up on a dirt farm! I can always chomp on a clod if _I_ get the munchies." He takes out a rock-like lump from his pocket and bites down on it. When he smiles at the camera, teeth fragments fall to the ground. He looks down in shock.

* * *

"What's so funny Scott?" Zoey asks over the table.

"Just- the other team," Scott says with a smirk. "They can't keep down their own gruel."

Lightning sits between Jo and Scott, his DPA container next to his bowl. He hums as he scoops up some protein powder and sprinkles it on his food. Jo and Scott watch as Lightning stirs in the powder, then eats a mouthful.

He begins to hack loudly. The jock stands from the table, clutching his throat. Jo gets up and raises a fist. "Easy on the powder diet, Jockstrap." She punches the back of his throat, and a beetle flies out of his mouth.

"Now that's just wrong!" Lightning says, pointing at his gruel.

Dawn comes by their table and picks the beetle off the ground. She strokes its back with her finger. "It's okay little one, you're safe now." A few Maggots witness her walk away.

B, sitting near the end of the table, hears soft squeaking beside him. He turns his head and sees a gray rat with glimmering green eyes sitting on the corner. Just as he's about to notify his teammates of the strange animal, it stands up and floats into the air.

_PSH-ZOOM! _It shoots lasers across the room, burning holes in the wall near Brick's head. "AHH!" he shrieks and drops his spoon. The campers flee for the door away from the green laser show, closing the door as it forms its own holes.

The teens race down the steps outside the cabin. As they stand around to catch their breath, the loudspeaker pole crackles; Chris's voice booms out of it. "ATTENTION PLAYERS! PLEASE HEAD DIRECTLY TO THE LOOMING TRAGEDY THAT IS: MOUNT LOOMING TRAGEDY. YOUR RACE BEGINS...NOW!" A horn blares through the loudspeaker.

"Maggots, ho!" Jo swings an arm forward, and the Maggots begin running behind her. The Rats quickly follow.

* * *

Soon everyone reaches the top of the hill. Many of the campers gasp for breath, and Cameron staggers away from the group to a bush.

"_Ohhh_," he moans, falling to his knees and throwing up.

Everyone's eyes go to him. "If we were hamsters, I would've _eaten_ you by now," says Jo.

Chris whistles loudly nearby, and the teens turn around. "Okay, mutant food!" he addresses. "On to the challenge!: Part One is an uphill battle. You have to climb all the way up to that cliff." He points at the towering rock structure ahead of them. "First team to the top gets an advantage in Part Two. You can climb with your hands, or use whatever you can find in this pile." He jabs a thumb at the small mountain of trash behind him. "Don't worry, this junkyard doesn't have a dog...it has a giant mutant beetle!"

A hissing sound comes from the trash pile. Every camper gasps as a human-sized beetle scuttles out and stands guard over its territory.

"Big guy's a bit of a hoarder," Chris explains cheerily. "His estate is full of useful crud, and disgusting crud. That is, if you can get near it!" A deep horn sounds from the top of Mount Looming Tragedy. "It is ON!"

The teens race for the mountain. "Let's hustle Maggots!" Jo yells. "Double time!"

"Come on Rats, we can do this!" Brick shouts.

Cameron reaches up and grabs onto a ledge. His body trembles as he lifts himself a centimeter. "Shirt's- so heavy," he wheezes. "Socks- weighing me down!" He slides to the ground. "Oof!"

"Your team is floundering down there," Jo tells Brick, both climbing at a fast pace along with Lightning.

"Huh?" Brick looks down to see only Sam making progress, and very little at that. "Well, what about your own teammate over there?"

"What are you-" She twists her head around. Mike, Zoey, and Scott are several feet below, but B is standing in front of the garbage pile. "GET CLIMBING, BEVERLY!"

Lightning snickers. "Poor guy, being named _Beverly_."

Chris walks up to Anne Maria, who's checking herself in a compact mirror. "And will the lady be participating?" he mocks.

"Pfft. Have you seen my nails? These are why I drive with my feet," she remarks.

Dawn jumps for a rock ledge several times, grunting in the effort. Sam's body slips down the mountain next to her.

"Aaand I'm officially done. Good night everybody." He slumps onto the dirt.

Cameron walks over to the two. "Maybe we should follow his lead," he says, pointing at B who's reaching for a radioactive barrel.

_Szzzt! _The beetle shoots fire from its mouth at B. He jumps backward, hands shielding his face.

"We must distract this tortured soul!" Dawn says and runs over. As B blocks the beetle's fire with a fridge door, Dawn darts forward and grabs a recorder instrument off the pile.

"Toss it here!" Sam says. "I've got Folk Band 3 at home AND the high score!" Dawn throws it to him. He puts the recorder to his lips and plays a tune that sounds rather tinny.

The beetle hisses at the noise. It hops off its pile and starts rolling toward Sam. "Aaah!" he screams, running around with it on his tail. "The console makes better music!"

Lightning approaches the cliff. Seeing this from his outdoor TV screen, Chris gets out his walkie talkie and speaks to Chef. "You know what to do: ice 'em!"

Chef grins. He is surrounded by giant ice cubes stacked like boxes. "Copy that, Chris."

"Chef, make way for the Lightning!" the jock says, sounding near.

Chef picks up one ice cube and walks over to the edge, aiming it to fall directly on Lightning. He lets it drop.

**WHACK! **It smashes on his head. "OW!" Lightning yells. His eyes flutter shut. He collapses on top of Brick, sending them both to the bottom of the mountain.

Jo continues to climb. Chef hurls two ice cubes at her, both which she dodges. "Gotta get up pret-ty early Chef," she teases, making him scowl.

Lightning and Brick land in a heap next to Sam, who is being crushed again and again by the beetle. "Feel free to help any time," he says, feebly raising an arm.

Dawn strokes her chin. "Hm...Wait!" She takes out the baby beetle from this morning, showing it to Sam's attacker. "Is this why you're so distraught?"

The baby beetle jumps out of her hand and crawls to its mother. The mother stops crunching Sam and picks up the baby beetle, the livid look in its eyes disappearing. It actually seems to smile as it scuttles away with its young.

"That was _beautiful_," Dawn sighs.

"We need to get climbing!" Brick says, climbing out from under Lightning who's out cold. He looks at Dawn and Cameron. "I think I can piggyback one of you."

"Carry Cameron," Dawn says, sprinting over to the trash heap with Sam. Cameron gets on Brick's back; Brick starts scaling the mountain.

"Come on!" Sam shouts, passing by Anne Maria.

"Fine, whateva," she says. She joins them at the junk pile as they rifle through it.

Meanwhile at the top, Scott, Mike, Zoey, and Jo are in peril. Chef manages to land a well-placed ice cube on Jo, sending her along with Scott below. "Hehehe," Chef chuckles, throwing ice cubes like a machine at Zoey and Mike. Mike saves Zoey as she's struck by one, only to be hit by an ice cube himself and plummet through the sky.

"Mike!" she yelps, looking down below. She experiences vertigo and turns away, closing her eyes.

The rest of the Maggots are watching B as he steps onto his new invention. A worn-out sofa sticks to the top of a radioactive barrel that has fireworks tied around it with rope. B holds two wires, blue and green, which are connected to the fireworks. He motions his team to climb on.

"What kind of crazy idea is this?" Jo says. Nonetheless, she runs over to a dazed Lightning and slings him over her shoulder before sitting on the sofa. Scott stubbornly stays on the ground, grabbing the furniture leg.

B watches the sky, the wires limp in his hands. "What are we waiting for?" Scott demands. He is answered by Mike's scream getting closer every second. The Maggots look up to see Mike directly above them.

He lands on the couch. "Am I alive?" he asks, looking around to see the faces of his teammates. "Wow, that sure was a soft landing."

B puts the blue and green wires together. The structure shoots up like a rocket in a series of sparks. Lightning wakes right up. "Sha-boom brother!" he shouts as they speed past Brick and Cameron, who gaze after them with surprised expressions. Dawn, Sam, and Anne Maria look up too, abandoning their search through the garbage.**  
**

They reach the top. B leans hard sideways and separates the wires, landing them on top of Chef. Zoey arrives just then, pulling herself onto the cliff. She looks up. "Whoa, how'd you guys get here?"

Chris rises over the team in a jet pack. "And the Maggots win, thanks to B!" he declares.

"Whoo hoo! Team Maggot's unstoppable!" Lightning points both hands in the air.

Just then, Scott falls through the air into the ground. "OW!" he says.

"Okay, NOW the Maggots win," Chris says. "Heheh."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"I'm not interested in eliminating Jo and Lightning right now," Scott says. "I have a much bigger fish to fry. Beverly, the _explosives expert mime,_ has to GO!" He drives his shark tooth into the wall.

* * *

"Who else is heading for a fall?" Chris says, hovering above Scott. "Literally. Find out after the break, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"


	6. Ice Ice Baby (Part 2)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Here is the last part of this episode! It took longer to finish than I expected. I'm considering writing full episode chapters from now on. Do you guys like reading the episodes in two parts, or should I combine the parts into one?

Additionally, I place great value in the reviews I get for this story. They help me to grow as a writer and grant me encouragement to keep writing. I do plan to complete my remake for the satisfaction of seeing my idea through, but it's nice to see what other people think in the meantime. :-) So, lay on the comments, compliments, and constructive criticisms; all are appreciated much more than you may think.

P.S. Lately, I've been having trouble writing; I can't picture how the characters behave while I write them. I'm going to take a week or two off from writing and see if it gets better. Otherwise, I'll probably look for a beta reader to help with characterization.

* * *

The group of teens has found itself in a winter wonderland. Sans jackets.

Chris, decked out in a snow suit, beams at the shivering teens. "Greetings, ice teams! Cold enough for ya?" They all chatter their teeth in response. "Heheh. I'll take that as a 'yes'." He hands Zoey the red Maggots' flag and Lightning the green Rats' flag. "Time for Part Two of today's challenge: capture the snow fort. To win, you have to either demolish the enemy's fort, or capture their flag and bring it back to your own fort. Maggots won the first part, so they get first dibs on the forts."

"W-w-well d-d-duh! W-we'll t-t-take the c-castle!" Jo says. The Maggots shuffle toward their fort, the Rats heading off to the other.

The Maggots walk inside their spacious castle. Glittering walls made of snow bricks surround them on four sides. Lightning puts up two triumphant fists. "Yes! Lightning can already taste victory!"

"Yeah!" says Mike, raising his hand for a high five. Lightning obliges.

The Rats enter their fort, which is barely taller than them. It looks like crooked pillars of snow were mushed together in a circle. "Hey, at least it's not that cramped in here," Sam says.

"It stinks," Anne Maria says flatly. The Rats nod in response, and Sam sighs.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ANNE MARIA (The Jersey Shore Reject)

"Sure, I didn't do Mount Loomin' Whateva, but I do wanna win a million dollars," Anne Maria says. "Just not at the expense of my looks!" She gestures at her poufy hair and bronzed body. "I mean check me out, perfect hair, perfect tan- all this is worth a _billion_, easy."

* * *

Chris stands near Chef while he sets up lawn chairs by a campfire. The host brings his trusty loudspeaker to his lips. "LISTEN UP CAMPERS! HERE'S HOW IT WORKS: YOU JUST USE THE SHOVEL IN YOUR FORT TO FIRE YOUR COLLECTION OF MYSTERY SNOWBALLS AT THE OTHER TEAM'S FORT."

Scott runs over to his team's shovel and pulls it backward, testing its spring. "Awesome! I took out my uncle's left eye with a meatball this way!"

"Why would you do that?" Mike asks, looking disturbed.

"There was a feud between us," Scott replies, "but I got the last laugh."

Zoey cups her hands around her mouth and calls out to Chris. "WHY ARE THEY CALLED 'MYSTERY BALLS'?"

"BECAUSE THEY ALL INFLICT MAJOR DAMAGE, THANKS TO THE SECRET WEAPON HIDDEN INSIDE EACH BALL!" he replies. "BUT SOME WILL DAMAGE _YOU_. SO, CHOOSE WISELY. EACH TEAM HAS TO ELECT A CAPTAIN TO COMMAND AND CONQUER. STARTING...NOW!"

Lightning and Jo say, "As team captain, I say we-"

They stop and glare at each other. "Since when do _you_ wanna be team leader?" Jo demands.

"All the last challenges relied on our skills as individuals," Lightning says. "But this, this is a team sport! Lightning will make our team sha-champions!"

"I can't take you seriously when you talk in third person, Sha-Dork. Let's thumb wrestle to decide." Jo and Lightning lock their hands together and engage in some serious thrusting of their thumbs. Lightning catches Jo's thumb leaning backwards, and bends it further. Just as it looks like hers is about to break, Jo slides her thumb around his and pins his down, leaving Lightning with no power but to wiggle the end.

"You snake!" Lightning gasps, taking back his hand.

"And I'm proud of it." Jo smiles. "That means I'm team captain. Scott, B, and I will stay here and fire the snowballs. Lightning, Mike, and Zoey, you guys try to capture the Rats' flag."

"Uh, Jo, not to criticize your thinking or anything, but wouldn't you be better than me at fighting the Rats for their flag?" Zoey asks.

"Yeah, I would," Jo agrees. "But we need at least one strong player here in case the other team comes. Besides, you were the only one who climbed to the top of Mount Looming Tragedy, so I know you're not _useless_."

"Are you coming Zoey?" Mike asks, waiting at the mouth of the fort.

"I guess so." She turns around and joins him and Lightning outside.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

"Truth is, I don't wanna have to fight anyone," Zoey admits. "I'm not much of a fighter..."

* * *

Brick faces his own teammates. "Men- and women- I owe you all an apology. I tried to compete alone with two Maggots when we were climbing the mountain. I left you all behind and in doing so, failed to follow my own code."

"You did leave us at the bottom of Mount Looming Tragedy when it was supposed to be a team race," Sam informs.

"Yes, I know." Brick looks down.

"It's okay Brick," Dawn says gently. "You already made up for it by carrying Cameron up the mountain."

"When did this even happen?" Anne Maria asks.

"Let bygones be bygones. I think that Brick should be our leader for this challenge," Cameron declares.

"I agree," Dawn says, raising her hand.

Anne Maria shrugs and raises hers. "Sure, I don't care."

"Well, I know I won't be leading," Sam jokes, making another vote.

"Really?...I've never been 'large and in charge' before," Brick says.

"HURRY UP!" Chris commands. "MY ICE IS MELTING, AND YOUR FORTS WILL TOO IF THE SUN GETS MUCH HIGHER."

Cameron salutes Brick, and the others copy. Brick does a little jolt at this, then slowly grins.

A drum roll plays. "Alright, soldiers," Brick says, his voice imitating a drill sergeant's. "I _will_ be your captain for this challenge. I believe our team is capable of winning, and will today. That is the truth which I speak. So...game on!

"Sam, Anne Maria, and I will go for the other team's fort. Dawn and Cameron, you stay here and launch the snowballs."

"What do we do when the Maggots get here?" Cameron asks.

"We'll come back with their flag before they can bring back ours. Either that, or you two will destroy their fort first. Have confidence, soldier!" Brick turns to Anne Maria and Sam. "Let's attack!"

They head off. Cameron looks at Dawn. "Well, I guess we're partners," he says in a genial tone.

"Indeed," Dawn says. "Do you wanna be the one to launch the snowballs?"

"Sure!" He walks over to the shovel catapult.

Lightning, Zoey, and Mike are jogging on the ice. "Thanks for saving me from falling last challenge," Zoey says to Mike.

"No problem," he replies. "Those ice cubes were huge! Lightning, didn't one knock you out?"

Lightning is several yards ahead. "Yeah, but I get hit in the head a lot playing football. No big deal."

Zoey is concentrating on moving her feet carefully. "I was also just wondering. Why did you stay with me?"

"Oh, heheh. Well, I just thought since it was a team race and all, better to climb in pairs so you can save each other from falling, right?"

She taps her head with a fist. "Right. Sorry, that was kinda obvious now that I think about it."

"It's okay." Mike touches her hand. "No need to apologize for being curious."

"Sorry for apologizing." She chuckles, seeing disapproval wrinkle his forehead. "That time was intentional."

"Oh," he says. He grins. "Well, sorry for misinterpreting your 'sorry'."

"No, I'm sorry for saying 'sorry' in the first place when it wasn't needed."

"Then why did you say it again just now?"

"Huh, I guess I'm not sorry actually."

"About saying it now, or saying it in the first place?"

"Both? Now I'm lost," Zoey laughs.

Mike smiles toothily. "Sorry about that."

"It's okay," Zoey says. The two lock eyes with each other a moment before looking forward again.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Actually, I climbed next to Zoey because I have a crush on her," Mike confesses. "She's a lot of fun to talk to, and I like hearing her laugh. She's also really pretty- you know, just something I noticed." He casts his gaze aside, looking thoughtful. "I wonder if she'd go out with a guy like me."

* * *

The three Maggots can see people in the distance. One person trips and slides on his belly toward them. "And the Thunder slips past the Lightning!" Sam announces, speeding past the star athlete. "I'm Thunder!"

Sam slows down, the ice cracking underneath him. Suddenly a hole rips open, pulling him under the water.

"Sam!" Brick shouts, he and Anne Maria running over to the hole. Sam pops up from the water, frozen in an ice cube. Brick hauls him out of the water and sets him on the ice. "Aw, how are we gonna break this?" He hits a fist against Sam's prison.

"We'll come back when the challenge is ova," Anne Maria says.

Brick looks at her. "But doing that violates my code!"

She rolls her eyes. "What, is your code set in stone or somethin'? It's not like anything'll happen to him."

"I already broke it once. I won't do it again." He brings a swift kick to the ice cube with his boot. It forms cracks around Sam's body. He kicks it again. Half of the icy shell shatters this time, releasing Sam to the ground.

Sam curls into himself, his skin pale blue. "S-s-s-so c-c-cold." Brick lifts him onto his back and continues with Anne Maria to the Maggots' fort.

A snowball lands inside the Rats' fort near Cameron's feet. He reaches for the top of the snowball supply. "Not that one!" Dawn yelps.

Cameron pulls his hand back. "Why not?"

"It's filled with negative energy," she explains. She points at another snowball. "Ooh, this one!" Cameron draws it back on the shovel, sending it flying. Both of them run outside and watch the snowball demolish a turret on the other team's castle. Dawn claps.

Scott and Jo look up and see Cameron's snowball smash into the turret. B has wandered away. "I thought you were supposed to be an expert at this," Jo accuses Scott.

"You try launching at a fort about a mile away!"

"Okay, I will!" Jo shoves him aside and picks up a snowball. It begins to vibrate in her hand. She throws it at Scott. "On second thought, you can take this one."

It breaks as he catches it, and bees swarm into the air. They give chase to Scott, who sprints out of the fort screaming.

B turns his head toward Scott while coming back inside. He's lifting a massive circle of ice. "What are you dragging that in for?" Jo asks. He points at her feet, then at his shoulders.

"You did win us the last challenge with your idea..." Jo climbs on his back and puts her feet on his shoulders, then stands up. "What now?"

He passes up the circle to her and points at the top of the front wall. B walks over to it, and Jo places the circle on the wall's edge. She jumps down. The circle lights up, focusing the sun's rays across the rink onto the Rats' fort. B and Jo watch as the Rats' fort begins to diminish by the second.

Jo raises her eyebrows. "Not bad, B."

A snowball crashes into the wall, creating a series of cracks. "Dang it!" Jo yells. She reaches for another snowball and flings it in the air using the catapult.

It hits the Rats' fort. A good chunk of the wall crumbles away. "Uh oh," Cameron says, looking at the new gap in the melting fort.

Dawn looks outside to see Lightning, Mike, and Zoey approaching. "Cameron, fire at the Maggots coming toward us!"

"Which snowball?" Cameron asks, his eyes darting over the pile. He lifts one particularly-huge snowball onto the shovel, grunting with the effort, and launches it straight ahead.

It smashes at Lightning's feet. "Hey- AHH!" He jumps back from the giant mutant beetle in front of him.

"Isn't that the beetle from last challenge?" Zoey says.

"Split up!" Mike shouts. They run in three separate directions. The beetle looks around for a moment, then starts to pursue Mike.

"Nice job," Dawn says, high five-ing Cameron.

"You too! We make a great team." Cameron turns to the entrance. "I wonder how our teammates are doing."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAWN

"I felt bad telling Cameron to attack the other team," Dawn says. "But this _is_ a challenge, and we've already lost two of them! This perverse game forces my hand."

* * *

Scott walks back inside the Maggots' fort, covered in bee stings. "I finally got rid of the bees," he says, glaring at Jo.

"How?" Jo asks with a smirk.

Scott merely crosses his arms. B is at the catapult, firing snowballs at the Rats coming toward them. A snowball hits the ground in front of Anne Maria, releasing a large cloud of smoke. She, Sam, and Brick cough in place, their eyes watering.

"I'll take over from here," Jo says, walking over to the shovel and making B step aside. She grabs a snowball and shoots it at Anne Maria's face.

Anne Maria stumbles backward from the impact. She hears Jo laughing faintly while she wipes the snow off her features, drawing her lips in a tight angry line. "Anne Maria- are you okay?" Brick asks. "That looked like it hurt."

"Pasty is going down," she whispers.

"Pasty?" Brick watches along with Sam as Anne Maria storms ahead. "Who's that?"

Mike is running fairly fast, but the beetle is faster. It snatches him up, brings its arm back, and hurls him at the Rats' fort.

"A-A-A-AH!" His pulsating scream ends abruptly as he smashes through the wall. He tumbles onto the ground, his shirt torn off in front to reveal his toned abdomen.

Dawn and Cameron look at him, then at each other. Mike gets up on his arms with a groan, which hitches as he turns into Vito. His brown eyes relax and narrow. He grins and stands up, ripping off the rest of his shirt.

He shoves Dawn and Cameron to the ground. "Outta the way, losahs," he says in a cocky low voice. Vito picks up some snow and slicks back his hair with it, then walks over and pulls the Rats' flag out from its mound.

"Mike!" Zoey runs inside along with Lightning. She raises an eyebrow in question at Mike's naked upper body.

"Ey yo! You lookin' for this?" Vito raises the flag.

Cameron stares at Vito with a mixture of annoyance and thought, while Dawn's mouth draws down at the corners. "Alright! You got the flag!" Lightning cheers.

"Let's go!" Zoey says. She tries to take Vito's hand, but he snatches it away and frowns.

"Hold up, redhead! You wanna touch the Vito, you gotta make an _appointment_."

Zoey steps back in surprise, hurt flashing across her features. Lightning comes forward. "Hey, stop messing around! We got a challenge to win!"

Vito waves the flag in front of him, grinning. "Oh yeah? Ya gonna have to fight me first."

Lightning growls before tackling Vito to the ground.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"Mike's behavior is pretty off," Cameron says. "I can't really tell if he's a nice person because he's too unpredictable. It's curious."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAWN

"Mike's future is filled with turmoil," Dawn says, sadly shaking her head. "I wish I could prevent the conflicts with his teammates coming his way. I also want to cure all the poor innocent animals of their mutated states. I can't bear seeing them suffer by the hands of Chris!"

* * *

Anne Maria, Brick, and Sam step inside the Maggots' fort. "Die Pasty!" Anne Maria yells, running toward Jo with a fist.

Jo dodges her punch, which hits B instead. B stumbles backward and scowls at Anne Maria. Brick comes forward, looking at the three Maggots surrounding the flag. "Sorry guys- and Jo- but we're gonna have to take that flag of yours."

He lunges. Scott and Jo jump on him while B stands aside. Sam and Anne Maria join in, trying to pull Scott and Jo away from their teammate. They succeed in prying off Scott, who is thrown out through the entrance.

"Ow! Geez," he says, rubbing his head. He stands up and sees half of Sam's ice cube still standing several yards away. Slowly, he turns around to B's frozen magnifying glass sitting at the top of the fort. Scott looks ahead at Vito and Lightning wrestling each other for the flag, visible over the Rats' shrinking fort. Dawn is shoveling snow onto the fort in a hurry, and Cameron is kicking snow on top as well.

Scott smiles.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"I have to be a team player until I get my hands on the invincibility statue," Scott says. "But this is a golden opportunity, and I am not about to pass it up."

* * *

Scott picks up some snow and forms a snowball. "Try and talk your way out of _this_ one, Bev!" He throws it at the magnifying glass, which tilts down ever so slightly. It directs sunlight on the ice cube, which closely deflects the rays onto the Maggots' castle. The fort dissolves in a heap of slush within seconds.

Anne Maria, Sam, Brick, and Jo rise to their feet, staring around with stunned expressions. Scott breaks the silence. "Nice magnifying glass, Beverly." He jabs a finger at a wide-eyed B. "_That's sabotage_!"

Cameron turns around and sees that the Maggots' fort is gone. He widens his eyes in amazement. "Dawn, look! We won!"

Dawn looks ahead and gasps. Lightning leaps off Vito. "Sha-_what_?"

Chris comes over to the Maggots' side with Chef, who's holding a tray with five cups of hot cocoa on it. "And the Rats win!" Chris declares. "Here's your reward: McLean-brand hot chocolate. Scald your senses with chocolate-y goodness."

Sam runs forward and grabs one of the cups. He take a gulp of hot cocoa and sighs, steam coming out of his mouth. "Ahhh. I can feel my insides thawing out after falling through the ice."

Brick pats him on the back. "Good for you, soldier."

Scott feels someone's eyes on his back, and turns around to see B glaring at him. He gives the mute a knowing smirk before beginning to whistle.

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

The males are in their bedroom, wrapped up in their blankets after the freezing cold. While B is in the bathroom, Scott seizes the opportunity to talk to Mike and Lightning. "So I think we should vote off B tonight at the elimination ceremony," he says. "He cost us the challenge with his huge magnifying glass! Not to mention, how can you trust a guy that's so secretive, he doesn't even talk?"

"B made a huge magnifying glass?" Mike asks. Scott and Lightning stare at him.

"You're kidding, right?" Scott says. "By the way, Lightning, I read B's diary- he calls you Fizzle. Just thought you should know."

Lightning's mouth forms a small "o".

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

Lightning looks enraged. "B may have messed with the challenge, but Mike messed with the Lightning! First he deprives the Lightning of quality sleep, then he goes all method actor and withholds team victory? Time for him to say sha-bye bye."

* * *

Scott, Lightning, Mike, B, Zoey, and Jo sit around the campfire for the first time of the season.

"Well, Maggots, this is your first elimination ceremony of the season!" Chris says.

"We know already," Jo huffs. "Can we just get this over with?"

"Yeah!" Lightning says, scowling.

Chris grins. "Ooh, a bunch of sore losers, aren't we? After a jam-packed day of _losing_, it all comes down to this. When I call your name, come and get your marshmallow. The following Maggots are safe."

"Jo."

"Lightning."

"Scott."

"Zoey." The four called get up and make a beeline for the marshmallow tray.

"AAAAH!" The voice comes from the sky. Dakota is on a hang glider and diving straight for the campfire ground. Everyone dashes out of the way as she crashes in front of the seat stumps.

"Ughhh," Chris groans, "I hate it when losers get all clingy. Dakota, you're no longer competing. Remember?"

Dakota gets up from under the hang glider, discarding it. "I don't care about the money- like I need it. I just want- um, close up please!" The camera zooms in on her face. "I just want camera time! People need to see more of my sparkly adorableness if I'm gonna get my spin-off reality series."

Her eyes suddenly enlarge as she clenches her teeth in shock. The camera switches back to regular view, showing her clamped in a long metal arm Chef holds. "Remember how you flew into the sky last episode? That means you're done!" Chris says. "For-ever."

"No, please, I'll do anything!" she cries.

Chris's cellphone rings. "Hold on." Chris picks up. "Hello?..." He turns to Dakota. "It's your daddy."

Dakota's face lights up. "Hello Mr. Milton," Chris says. "...HOW much money?" To Dakota he says, "You're back!..."

"Yes! Thanks Daddy," Dakota says with a smile.

"...as an intern!"

"An _intern_?" Dakota now struggles to get out of the clamp, but Chef carries her away. "Nooooo!"

Chris continues with the elimination ceremony, everyone sitting back on their stumps. "And the toxic marshmallow of loserdom goes to..." Mike and B look anxiously at the final white marshmallow on the tray, both sweating.

"_B_."

"Phew!" Mike says, retrieving his marshmallow. The toxic marshmallow is thrown at B and lands on the ground. It quickly sinks into the dirt. B narrows his eyes at Scott, who smiles in return.

"Time for the Hurt of Shame, buddy," Chris says. B sighs and stands up, looking dejected.

* * *

**HURL OF SHAME**

B sits uncomfortably in the catapult. "Any final words, Beverly?" Chris asks. "Any words at all."

B looks at Scott standing among the other Maggots. They all gasp as B trembles, struggling to find his voice. He opens his mouth.

_Wham! _He is thrown through the sky. "AAAAAH!" he screams. The Maggots watch his disappearing figure as Scott looks smug.

Chris turns to the camera. "Come back for more mutants, mayhem, and manipulation, next time on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

NOTE: From this point on, the elimination order will be different from the canon (except for a few eliminations).


	7. Finders Creepers (Part 1)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Wow, five reviews after my last chapter! That is a MAJOR increase on the usual amount I get each update. I look back at the reviews on this story constantly, so it's awesome that I have this many more to heed the words of. :-)

My apologies on the lateness of this chapter- hopefully the length makes up for it. I've been doing a lot of research on character development, and I think I have a better grasp on the characters now. I was going to make this a full episode chapter, but even the first half was taking a while and I was impatient to get another chapter out by today. I'm afraid that due to school starting for me, I may not have much time to update. But, I'll do my best.

Also, I feel that I ought to explain why my first three eliminations were same as the canon. Well, when I first watched TDROTI, I was pretty satisfied with the elimination order up to a point: Dawn. One of my goals while planning this remake was to modify the elimination order in the best way possible, though other people may not agree with how I did it. Why change the first three eliminations when they all made sense in my perspective? I did feel that Staci and B needed a little more screentime before they went. Or maybe even after...

* * *

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Sam, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, Lightning

ELIMINATED: Staci, Dakota, B

**RECAP**

It is nighttime, and the crickets are chirping actively. Chris stands on the dock, holding a lit candle in one hand. "Last time on Total Drama Revenge of the Island!: Eleven bumbling buffoons battled it out in a brutal buffet of bombastica! Why all the 'b' words? _Because_, B proved he was a brave and brilliant improviser who scored big-time for his team- until his bitter teammate Scott botched it on purpose, and B got the boot.

"And now, tonight's challenge is about _fear_. And everyone knows fear is a dish best served-" A maniacal grin spreads across his face- "in the DARKKKK. MWAHAHAHA- huh?" He turns around to see Chef wearing a peacock-themed bikini, complete with a bush of tail feathers. "Chefff-fuh!" he whines.

"Wardrobe is all out of vampire costumes," Chef mutters.

"It's all scary-" Chris glares at Chef in his costume- "other than _that_. Right here, right now, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

The males have switched bunks. Scott now sleeps where Mike used to be under Lightning, and Mike has taken B's former bunk on the other side of the room. Lightning looks content while he sleeps.

Scott sneaks back into their room, unable to repress the smile showing on his features. He walks over to clean jeans and a tank top folded at the end of his bed and changes into them. After that, he lays out the old muddied clothes he was wearing before.

From the camera, we view only his back as he bends over his bunk bed. Soon he turns around with a tied bag made of his dirty laundry and tiptoes to the worn-out suitcase next to his bed. Slowly he pulls open the zipper, then pushes things around inside to make room.

"ACK!" he screams, jerking his hand back. A closed mouse trap digs into his skin. Scott growls and pulls it off, tossing it aside.

Lightning and Mike stir. Scott watches them for a moment until they resume snoring. He shoves the laundry bag in his open suitcase and scurries back into bed, discreetly pulling the blanket over him.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

Scott crosses his arms. "What sort of sick swine would sneak a mouse trap in my suitcase? It can only mean one thing: someone's onto me." He hits a fist on his palm. "I have to get rid of them before they can expose me to the others."

* * *

Dakota wears her red intern shirt as a crop top, the ends tied around her waist. She blows an air horn in front of the cabins, with Chris wearing noise-canceling headphones next to her. "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" Chris shouts.

Scott groans and gets right back up, heading for the door. Lightning's eyes pop open. "I'm up Coach! Lightning's up!" He jumps off his bunk and runs into Scott, sending them flying out the door and onto the porch.

Lightning gets on his feet, rubbing his head. "Sorry Scott. Didn't see you there."

"Fine," Scott mutters. As he stands, Mike runs out the door.

"What's happening?" he yells. Everyone is pouring out of the cabins on a tide of noise and panic. They all come to the center where Dakota and Chris stand.

Dakota ceases the air horn. Chris takes off his headphones and grins. "Thanks intern!"

"HUH?" Dakota yells.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAKOTA

Dakota hits her ears with her palms. She sighs loudly, hearing nothing. "SO AFTER CHRIS AGREED TO LET ME STAY, HE PUT A RESTRAINING ORDER ON THE PAPARAZZI! SO NOW I'M STUCK HERE FOR NO REASON! AND NOW HE'S MAKING ME, LIKE, _WORK_!" She folds her arms around her waist. "SO NOT COOL."

* * *

Anne Maria bursts into hysterical laughter, drawing everyone's eyes to her. She takes several seconds to recover. "Ha!" she says at last, "Blondie's an_ intern_!"

Sam's face lights up. "Dakota, you're back!"

Dakota pulls her ear wider, squinting to hear. "WHAT? SPEAK UP!"

Chef comes into view, pushing a map board next to Dakota. "Challenge time!" Chris declares.

"What, now?" Brick says.

"Can't Lightning get a good night's sleep for once?" Lightning says.

"Why in the middle of the night?" Mike says.

Chris grins. "It provides more of an atmosphere, y'know? Your challenge: A scavenger hunt for three creepy souvenirs. Your locations: a haunted forest, a scary pet cemetery, and an extra spook-tastic cave. First team to each location gets a special clue. But watch out for booby traps- I really went to town with 'em. Heheheh. So, move fast! And _stick together_. You'll be penalized for each member you lose."

Cameron looks uneasy as he points at a symbol on the map. "Um, what does the spider represent?"

"Oh yeah. There's some sort of gigantic mutated spider running loose on the island."

Exclamations of fear rise up from the campers. Cameron's eyes grow large, his teeth clenched in terror. "WHAT'S ON THE LOOSE?" Dakota yells.

Sam gets close to her ear and shouts, "A GIGANTIC MUTATED SPIDER!"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

Cameron is holding his head. "I have a severe case of arachnophobia. Spiders are just so creepy, literally! Anything with that many legs must be evil. Eugh!" A spider drops on a web next to his head. He leaps away, an arm in front of his face. "GAH!"

* * *

"There's nothing to fear but mortal terror itself! By the way, someone has found the invincibility statue," Chris says.

The campers gasp. "Who?" Zoey asks.

"Telling you would spoil the surprise, wouldn't it? Now, get running!" Chris takes the air horn from Dakota and blows it. The campers run off. "Get to work, lackey," Chris says to Dakota.

"WHAT?" she says.

* * *

The Maggots are the first to arrive at a loudspeaker tied to a looming tree in the forest. "Whoo hoo, first! That's right-t-t," Lightning sings.

Feedback sounds through the loudspeaker, and Chris's voice comes out. "Welcome to the haunted forest! Your clue can be found at the base of this tree."

There is a pit in front of the tree. Lightning kneels down and reaches into it, grasping empty air. "How deep is this hole?"

"Outta the way, Protein Puff." Jo shoves him aside and thrusts an arm into the hole. She grunts as she swipes at a piece of paper at the bottom, just missing.

"The person with the longest arms should do it," Scott says. "Obviously."

"Since I'm the tallest, I might be able to reach the clue," Mike says. He joins Jo at the hole and reaches down for the note. He quickly grabs it and stands up.

Jo gets up with an annoyed frown, which dissolves in a second. "Say, what's on your back there?" she asks Mike.

"Huh?" Mike feels his back and takes off a piece of paper with frayed edging on one side. His eyes fall to the bottom of the paper and widen a second later. "It's a message from B."

"Can I see that?" Scott yanks the note out of Mike's hands. He scans over the paper. "Hmm. Seems like he's pretty bitter about us voting him out."

Zoey leans forward. "Can I see? I mean, if that's okay with you."

Scott forms a pinched expression, bringing the note up to cover his nose. "Ah- ah- ACHOO! Ugh." He wipes up the leftover snot around his nostrils with the now-slimy note. Zoey looks dismayed and disgusted as Scott holds it out to her. "My bad, I needed to do that. At least it's still readable."

She steps back from the paper. "I'm okay, actually."

"If you say so." Scott throws the note into the shadows.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"It's surprising that B wrote a letter to us, even if he didn't say the words out loud," Mike says. "He might've written something that's important, but then _Scott_ had to go and snatch the letter from me and blow his nose in it!" He shakes his head with a sigh.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"It was B who put that trap in my suitcase! And he tried to tell everyone that I framed him too!" Scott says. "I _knew_ I was right to kick him off the island." His scowl changes to a smile, and he taps his head. "At least my quick thinking came into gear before it was too late."

* * *

"Let me read the clue," Jo says, taking the paper out of Mike's other hand. Just then, the Toxic Rats come into the clearing. Jo huffs. "Great! Now we just lost our lead."

"Hey, it was for a letter from our former teammate," Mike says. "Didn't you wanna know what B had to say?"

"Why would I care about reading Beverly's little rant?" Jo says. She looks at the Rats. "Let's scram."

The Maggots run onto the path ahead and disappear into darkness. "Should we follow them?" Sam asks.

"We need to if we wanna hear the clue," Cameron says. With that decided, the Rats begin to follow the other team quietly.

Jo slows to a stop after a minute, the others falling in behind her. The Rats conceal themselves behind the thick trees. She turns around to her team and clears her throat before reading the clue out loud. "'Inside a knot is a nest. Your souvenir lives with a pest. Find Polaris to travel northwest.'" She eyes the paper with scorn. "Who wrote this, William Shakespeare?"

"I think Polaris is the North Star," Zoey says.

"Is that it?" Lightning says, pointing up at the sky. One star seems bigger and much brighter than the others.

Mike grins, looking up with the rest of the group. "It must be! Great job, Zoey."

"Thanks," Zoey says, her head turned away from him.

"Alright now, Maggots. Since Polaris is to the right of us, it seems we're heading in the right direction. Keep an eye out for a knot or a pest," Jo says.

"Who made you the boss?" Lightning says.

"Me. Because I won the thumb wrestle, remember?"

"That was for the last challenge. Why don't you give someone else a turn, like the Lightning?"

"Fine," Jo says, making his eyebrows shoot up. "You try leading our team tonight. Our fate is in _your_ hands."

Lightning raises his fist. "Sha-score! Lightning's finally team captain!" He points ahead on the path. "Okay everyone, onward!" He sets off at a sprint, and the Maggots follow behind him.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"Once everyone sees how pathetic of a leader Lightning is, even he will accept my leadership for good," Jo says. "I'm a genius, you gotta admit it."

* * *

Brick steps out from behind a tree. "Alright soldiers, we're gonna have to hustle if we want to catch up to the Maggots."

The others walk into view. "I'm tired enough already," Anne Maria complains. "I ain't running any faster than before."

"Me neither," Sam pants.

"The problem is, the Maggots are more physically fit than all of us but Brick," Cameron says. "But as long as we stick together, we can avoid that penalty Chris will give us for every lost member. We might have an advantage over the Maggots in the next part of the challenge if we finish with more members than them. I propose that everyone link their arms together so that none of us gets lost, and if anyone falls into a pit or gets grabbed by the-" he gulps- "mutant spider, we can try to pull them to safety."

The Rats stare at him. "That, is a brilliant idea Cameron!" Dawn says. Cameron smiles at her.

"Where'd you come up with all this?" Brick asks.

"I was just thinking over what Chris said," Cameron says. "Brick should be in the middle of the chain so he can support both sides, since he's the strongest. Come on, let's try this." He links arms with Dawn, who links with Brick, who links with Anne Maria, who links with Sam. Everyone is connected with two other people besides Cameron and Sam, who are on opposite ends.

"What if you're wrong about there being another part of the challenge, and we lose?" Anne Maria says.

"Well, since we're all tired right now, I can safely say this is our best bet," Cameron says. The others nod in agreement, and everyone begins running in a horizontal line down the path.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I don't know what came over me," Cameron says. "Oh wait, I do actually. Inspiration!"

* * *

The Maggots are far ahead of the Rats. Mike and Zoey run at an arm's length apart from each other. She ignores him, staring straight ahead. "You okay?" Mike asks.

"Why- do you ask?" Zoey says in between breaths.

"You just seemed a little distant, that's all."

She smiles at him. "I'm fine! No need- to worry."

Mike runs a hand through his hair. "Right. Well, um, you can always trust me with anything. I know we've only known each other for like, almost four days, but I've enjoyed getting to know you."

"Thanks! Same to you." Zoey looks back forward, indicating she doesn't want to talk anymore.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

"I'm a little confused," Zoey confesses. "So yesterday, Mike and I talked a lot with each other. We were on really good terms, you know? But then later on he acted as though I was a total stranger, then he sabotaged our team and even fought with Lightning!" Her eyes narrow. "He was acting like a jerk, basically. It makes me feel that maybe he's not the person I thought he was. He seems like a great guy, except for yesterday during the challenge." She lets out an exasperated sigh. "I just don't want to be associated with anyone like the jerks at my school."

* * *

Jo points ahead at a tree hole with both teams' colors streaked in paint below it. "That's the knot over there!"

"Whoo hoo!" Lightning whoops. He races over to the tree and climbs it quickly. His team watches as he blindly searches the inside of the knot, rustling its contents.

He yanks his arm back with a yelp. A giant eye with a dilated red iris has shown itself through the hole. Tentacles the size of the forest trees break out through the trunk. The teens scream all at once, and one tentacle wraps around Lightning's throat and lifts him up. Jo smiles to herself.

"Throw rocks at it!" Scott yells. He picks up some of the scattered rocks on the ground and throws them at the tentacle choking Lightning. Jo, Mike, and Zoey do the same, and the tentacle drops Lightning face-down on the forest floor. The provoked mutant grabs up the stone-throwers and dangles them in the air by their feet.

"Now what do we do?" Mike shouts in terror.

"Thanks for nothing, Carrot Top!" Jo says.

"HELPPP!" Zoey screams.

Lightning lifts his head up lying down. "No calamari does_ that_ to the Lightning!" He jumps to his feet and climbs the tree up to the knot once more. "Sha-BAM!" His fist slams into the eye.

The mutant's eye shrinks back, its tentacles releasing his teammates. The tentacles withdraw into the tree. Lightning digs around inside the hole, and raises a golden key in the air. "Aw yeah! The key!"

He jumps down to the ground where Mike, Scott, and Jo are standing while rubbing their heads. Mike looks around, dazed. "Ouch...Wait a minute. Where's Zoey?"

Lightning, Scott, and Jo scan the trees. "Oh well," Jo says. She lifts two fingers, one after the other. "Two words: dead, weight."

Scott shrugs, but Mike and Lightning stare at Jo in shock. Mike's expression twists. "What are you even talking about? Zoey is a_ person_, not to mention our own teammate! Your cutthroat attitude stinks!" He turns and calls loudly into the forest. "ZOEY! WHERE ARE YOU?

"It's called a _winning_ attitude. Look it up," Jo says.

"I know what a winning attitude is, and that ain't it," Lightning says with a frown.

Jo turns on him. "Well, get over it, or get out of the way. I'm taking charge now."

"Oh no you don't! Lightning is the leader for this challenge."

"Uh, hello? You got us hanging by our feet from a mutant octopus!"

"How is that my fault?" Lightning says.

"You alerted the creature to us!"

"It lives inside the tree! It would've woken up from anybody!"

Jo's mouth is set in a grimace, not saying a word. Lightning gives her a hard glare. "How about you walk around by yourself with your 'winning' attitude?"

"I think I will," Jo says. She turns on her heel and walks off into the trees. Soon the darkness swallows her up, and her silhouette disappears.

Mike climbs onto a branch high up the marked tree. He stands and cups a hand around his mouth. "ZOEY! TELL ME WHERE YOU ARE!"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

Lightning throws his arms in the air. "Jo doesn't even make any sense! He's constantly trying to be the leader over everyone, yet he doesn't care about anyone at all. It's like he thinks we're all his little pawns or something. And then there's Mike, who does all these random impressions and tried to make our team lose yesterday. All I can say is: me, Scott, and Zoey are the only normal people on our team."

* * *

The Rats run to where the Maggots are standing, their arms still linked. "Hey, where'd the rest of your team go?" Anne Maria asks Scott and Lightning.

Lightning opens his mouth, but Scott clamps his hand over it. "We were just going to meet up with them," Scott says. He yells up the tree, "Mike, we're going with or without you!"

Mike climbs down the tree. "Fine, I'll come. But we have to keep an eye out for Zoey."

Scott laughs. "She's with the rest of the team, remember? Now c'mon." He runs away with a confused Mike and Lightning on his tail.

Cameron watches them go with suspicion in his eyes. The rest of the group looks at the marked tree. "There are the team colors!" Dawn says, pointing at the red and green paint streaks.

"It must be the knot with the nest!" Sam says.

"Leave this to me, teammates," Brick says. He unlocks arms with Dawn and Anne Maria.

"Wait, Brick!" Dawn's voice is urgent, and he turns around. "I sense danger is near."

"A proper soldier never cowers in the face of danger." Brick marches up to the tree and scales it up to the knot, then rummages around inside. He takes out a key and shows it his teammates. "I believe this is it!"

The Rats cheer. Then they gasp as a spider web shoots out of nowhere onto Brick's head and pulls him out of sight. The key drops onto the grass.

Dawn shakes her head sadly. "We get a penalty for each lost player," Sam says, fear shaking his voice.

Cameron looks thoughtful. "We still have more than the Maggots."

"And how do ya know that?" Anne Maria demands.

"Mike basically said that Zoey disappeared, which means that he, Scott, and Lightning are only meeting up with Jo- if they're meeting up with anyone at all. It's possible Jo might've been captured too."

"But Scott said Zoey was with the rest of their team," Sam says.

"I'm pretty sure he was lying about that," Cameron says. "If Jo wasn't taken and was waiting for the rest of the Maggots alone, she'd be a goner by now based on quickly Brick was caught the minute he went by himself."

"Well, I guess that means we should stick together at all times," Sam says.

"Yup," Cameron says. The four Rats close the gap where Brick once stood between them, and begin moving. Cameron picks up the abandoned key as they pass by it.

Lightning, Scott, and Mike run down the path toward a distant graveyard. "What were we lying to the Rats for?" Lightning asks Scott.

"We don't want them to know about our lost teammates, do we? Otherwise they might think they have a chance at winning and work harder to beat us," Scott replies.

Lightning nods. "At least you're working for the team. I swear, some of our teammates are working against it."

Scott looks at him with an eyebrow raised. "Like who?"

Lightning speaks quietly so Mike won't hear. "Jo may think he's helping out the team, but he's no team player. And Mike tried to keep the flag away from me and Zoey yesterday so we'd lose."

"You mean, _two_ people were sabotaging our win during the challenge?"

"Yeah! Crazy, right?"

"Wow. I must say, our team is full of traitors."

"Which is why we have to vote off Mike next if we lose," Lightning whispers.

The two look at Mike, who has been giving them curious glances. Scott gives a small nod. "I gotcha."

"Uh, what are you guys talking about?" Mike inquires.

Lightning has a hostile look in his eyes. "Oh, we were just discussing what we might find at the next stop," Scott replies.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Since yesterday evening, I've had this feeling that Lightning doesn't like me," Mike says. "I keep thinking I see him glaring at me. And then Zoey wouldn't even meet my eyes when we talked..." He rubs the back of his head. "And now she and Jo are gone out of nowhere. What if something happened to her? Er, I mean 'them'. Yeah...it's just nerve-wracking."

* * *

Jo trudges through the forest, paying no attention to the softly hooting owls, the crickets chirping, or the scuttling noise in the treetops above. Her face is expressionless, and she blends in as a shadow among shadows.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"I hate this challenge," Jo says. "I mean, a scavenger hunt? Really? I don't even get to work by myself on this one. All my teammates were just weighing me down, so I had to take off. Sometimes if you want to win a game, you have to do it by yourself."

* * *

The sound of small steps gets closer, and the branches on the tree behind Jo bend under the large creature's weight. A thick string of webs streams toward her and hits her in the back, knocking her down.

"Whoa! What the-" More webs wrap around her eyes like a blindfold, then around her body. She struggles to get her arms out from her sides. "Hey! How dare you!"

She feels herself leave the ground. "Where are you taking me?" she shouts. "HELP! TEAM MAGGOT! ANYONE!"

For a long stretch of time, Jo feels the air moving around her as her captor moves from tree to tree. Finally, she is thrust onto a colossal web on the wall of a dimly-lit cave.

Brick and Zoey, also mummified but with their eyes intact, look up at the new victim stuck near the top of the web. "Jo? Is that you?" Brick says.

Jo turns her head toward his voice. "Wha- Sir Leaks-a-Lot?"

Brick's eyes widen. "Hey! Don't call me that!"

Jo smirks. "So it is you."

"Hi Jo," Zoey says.

"Red! So this is where you went. Do you know where we are?"

"We're in this, um, huge spider web in a cave."

"Excuse me? I got kidnapped by a _spider_?"

"We all did," Brick says. "It must be the giant mutant spider Chris warned us about, and this cave must be the last location of the challenge."

"Terrific. The final location is the spider's lair," Jo says. "How are we gonna get out?"

"We can't. We'll have to wait until our teammates get here," Brick says. A quiet pause. "Jo? Did you hear me?"

"I heard you."

"Let's hope our team gets here first," Zoey tells her.

"Whatever."

Zoey casts a glance at Brick, who shrugs his webbed shoulders ever so slightly. "She's _your_ teammate," he says.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

Zoey lifts an arm by her side, palm facing up. "I don't know what to make of Jo's answer," she says, and drops her arm. "It's like she doesn't even want to be rescued."

* * *

The three remaining Maggots pass through the graveyard entrance, which is two lampposts with a plank nailed-in between them. "Welcome to the Wawanakwa pet cemetery!" Chris's voice says through a loudspeaker pole. "In front of you is a wooden coffin, where you will find your second clue."

Lightning comes forward and flips open the coffin lying in the grass. He takes out a tattered piece of paper inside and shows it to Scott and Mike. On it, there are three rows of five random numbers: a red 6 is in every row and also a red 18 in the last row.

The teens wear identical blank expressions. "I guess we look for three 6's and an 18?" Mike says.

"I guess so," Scott says.

"Let's spread out and look," Lightning says. They walk off in three directions: Scott to the left, Mike to the right, and Lightning straight down the middle.

The remaining Rats are still running on the path before the cemetery. "I can't even see the Maggots!" Anne Maria says.

"They're probably in the pet cemetery now," Sam says, huffing and puffing.

"We just lost a lot of strength in our chain without Brick," Cameron tells Dawn. "If the same spider that got Brick tries to grab one of us, we might not be able to hold on."

"Well, we stand a better chance sticking together than staying separate," she says. Cameron nods, still looking worried.

The camera view shifts to Chris in a surveillance room sipping a soft drink. He turns on his swivel chair and faces the camera, with a line of screens behind him showing Cameron's face, Lightning stooping to examine a gravestone, and Mike scanning the trees in the distance for Zoey. "With the Rat's strongest player absent and two members already gone on the Maggots' side, will anyone even make it to the spooky cave? And if so, how can they possibly make it all the way to the finish line? Less gain, more pain, when we return!"

* * *

NOTE: This chapter was fun yet complicated to write. I found a lot of potential for interactions in the challenge, especially with the Maggots. Hope you guys liked this update!


	8. Finders Creepers (Part 2)

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Alright! I've decided that this space at the top will be the location any for shoutouts I make, and replies to guest reviewers.

WishStar: Sorry for the really late reply! Thank you kindly for your reviews. I don't want to spoil who Brick will be paired up with, but he and Jo are going to have many interactions whether as foes, friends, or lovers. I've actually been thinking up a romance plot for him in a possible TDAS remake, which I really want to write. The flash idea is a good one! I might try to fit it in somewhere.

I apologize to those who would prefer these chapters to be full episodes. School takes a lot of my time for writing, and I can only complete one half of an episode within around 1-2 weeks (with the exception of this one). Cutting the episodes in half is the only way I can get chapters up somewhat quickly, and I dislike making readers wait. Being an avid fanfiction reader myself, I know how that feels. What would be terrific is if I could make the final chapter a full episode to mark it as the finale. Here's hoping!

Also, I've been reading up on how to write better so I can have more confidence in my writing. It made this chapter come up days later than it would have, but the time spent on research will benefit these chapters in the long run. :-)

P.S. Feel free to check my progress for each update on my profile.

* * *

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Cameron, Sam, Dawn

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Zoey, Lightning

ELIMINATED: Staci, Dakota, B

From the camera, we see Scott's back as he stands in front of an upright coffin. It leans on a dog grave statue and has a key hole spotted with rust.

Scott pinches his chin. "Find the souvenir, hide the souvenir, lose the game...hmm. How will I get the key?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"So I happened to come across where the next souvenir is, and came up with a clever plan to eliminate another member on my team," Scott says. "But then I realized, Lightning still had the key! And of course I couldn't just _ask_ for it. So what'd I do about my dilemma? Well, I-"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CHRIS

"Just so you viewers know, the cut-off was not an error on behalf of our crew," Chris says. He beams. "I made my own brilliant edit to leave you all hanging."

* * *

Scott walks over to Lightning, who's squinting at the small lettering on a gravestone with a bird engraved in front. He eyes the golden key poking out of Lightning's pocket. "Find anything yet?"

Lightning jumps. "Woah! I didn't hear you coming. But no, Lightning's found nothing since we started."

"That's a shame." Scott slings an arm around Lightning's shoulder. "Look, I wanted to talk you about Mike. I'm all for voting him off, but two of us won't get the job done. We need one of the girls on our side, and Zoey seems too friendly with Mike, so I say we ask Jo."

The jock stiffens. "Nuh uh. No sha-way is Lightning getting involved with _him_."

Scott stares at him. "I said Jo, not Mike."

"I know. He's the rudest, most unreasonable guy I ever met!"

Scott flicks his eyes toward the night sky. "Well in that case, we can recruit Zoey and vote Jo off. Too bad that won't get rid of Mike, like you want."

Lightning frowns and turns back to the gravestone. Scott gives a pat on his back with one hand, and takes the key quick as a flash with the other. It gets stuffed into his pocket. "Don't worry, I'll do all the talking."

As Scott walks away, Cameron, Dawn, Anne Maria, and Sam arrive at the pet cemetery. They unlock arms and look at the empty coffin lying in front of them. "That must've been where the next clue was," Anne Maria says.

"How will we know what to look for now?" Sam says.

The team looks around, its eyes wandering around the graveyard and back to the coffin. "How about we split up and keep an eye on the Maggots in case they find the next souvenir?" Dawn says.

"I guess we have no choice," Cameron says. "But there's four of us and three of them. Two of us should pair up."

Anne Maria scoffs. "And how're we gonna decide that? No one wants to be alone with a giant spider on the loose."

"Why don't we do rock paper scissors?" Sam says. He and Anne Maria face each other, as do Cameron and Dawn.

"Rock paper scissors says shoot!" Sam and Anne Maria reveal their hands. Sam has rock and Anne Maria has paper.

Anne Maria lifts one eyebrow. "Huh. I wouldn't really have minded goin' alone, but whateva."

"Rock paper scissors says shoot!" Cameron shows paper while Dawn shows scissors.

"You should be part of the pair," Dawn says. "I could tell what you were going to choose."

"No, it's okay. I'm fine by myself."

Dawn shakes her head. "No you aren't." Cameron's mouth shifts, his eyes blinking twice. "I mean, you'll be captured next if you go alone."

His expression clears. "Oh, you can see the future. But wouldn't that mean _you_ would be captured if I took your spot?"

She winces. "I should've known you would think of that. If only I were a mind reader..."

"Are you two done?" Anne Maria asks, her and Sam turning around. "I won against Sam."

"Yup, Dawn won," Cameron says. Dawn opens her mouth. "Wait just a moment, Dawn. I owe you a favor for when you told Brick to carry me up Mount Looming Tragedy instead of you. This is how I can repay you."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I actually owe Dawn numerous favors," Cameron says. "She gave me a pep talk when I was feeling down and reminded me of my strengths, she saved me from picking up a potentially harmful snowball last challenge, and she keeps me company on this island. Sam, Brick, and Anne Maria are nice, but let's face it- I'm not very good at socializing on a casual level." He shrugs. "I've consulted textbooks and everything, but living in a bubble for most of your life doesn't let you practice much."

* * *

Scott is back at the coffin, twirling the key in his hand. A smirk spreads across his face as he inserts the key into the key hole.

_Click. _The door creaks open to reveal the bared grin of Fang.

"GAH!" Scott slams the door shut and sprints away from the coffin. The shark reopens it and chases after him. The two weave in and out of the gravestones, Scott screaming at a continuous rate.

Dakota and Owen watch this occur, holding a jumbo-sized bucket of grease between them. "Well, that's one part of the show I don't miss," Dakota says.

"Do you mean the guy who's running from the giant mutated shark, or the giant mutated shark?" Owen asks.

"Both! That guy wasn't even on my team." Dakota and Owen walk over to a large square pit and dump the grease into it. "In fact, I don't miss any of the contestants. The only one who was even remotely nice to me was Sam. Everyone else didn't make me feel welcome at all!" She looks up to see Owen stuff a greasy finger into his mouth, and she wrinkles her nose. "Eww."

Owen stops slurping and takes out his finger. "What? It's good grease. Try some!"

"No way! Grease is disgusting. This _job_ is disgusting."

Sam approaches Dakota and Owen by the pit. "Hi Dakota and, uh-"

"I'm Owen," Owen says. "Man, you're so lucky you get to be on the show this season! I'd do anything to compete again with Izzy and my buddy Noah. We made some good times here, y'know?"

"I actually never watched Total Drama," Sam says. "Just heard about it and thought it'd be fun. It's been pretty grueling so far though." Just then, Scott's screaming gets close. He and Fang knock into Sam, who tumbles into the pit.

Dakota gasps. She and Owen look into the pit and hear Sam hit the bottom with a distant "oof".

"I'm okay!" Sam shouts. "Just landed in some grease. Hey, there's giant maggots here!" Slurping sounds rise from several maggots. "Heheh, that tickles!"

**CHOMP!** "OW! Hey, that doesn't!" Chomping fills the air. "AHHHHH!"

Dakota puts a hand to her stomach. "Why does my gut feel so- squirmy? I feel like- _apologizing_?" She drops her hand to her side. "If this is what it feels like to feel bad for someone else, I don't like it! I'm out!" She walks away.

Owen points down the pit. "Uh, what about saving him? I don't know his name!"

Mike is kneeling at a gravestone with a skeleton face design. He eyes the keyhole for the face's nose, then brushes his finger over the date. "June sixth, eighteen-oh-six." He grins and leaps to his feet. "Lightning! Scott! I found it!"

Anne Maria and Dawn are hiding behind a wide gravestone nearby. "Let's go tell the others," Dawn whispers. They walk bent-over behind the gravestones, their steps inaudible.

Lightning races to where Mike is standing. He stumbles to a halt. "You found the location of the souvenir?"

"I'm pretty sure, yup."

Lightning is digging in his left pocket. His eyes widen a little, and he shoves his hand in his other pocket. It comes up empty, and he stares at his palm. "I swear I had the key!"

"Maybe Scott has it," Mike says.

"No, I_ know_ I had it in my pocket. I remember putting it there!"

"Then maybe it dropped out?" Mike turns his head from side to side. "Let's get Scott and look around for it."

Owen paces near the edge of the grease pit, talking to himself. "Oh, what do I do? I can't just leave him here! That would be unethical!" Anne Maria and Dawn pop up from the gravestone in front of him. Owen jumps. "Great slices of ham!"

Dawn shields her eyes and looks around. "Hey, aren't ya one of the old contestants from Total Drama?" Anne Maria says.

"I'm Owen," Owen says. "Huh! I think I've said that twice in one hour. Say, could you help me pull this guy out of the pit?"

"We're doin' a challenge right now, so no thanks," Anne Maria replies. "Unless it's Sam or Cameron."

He shrugs. "I don't know what those two look like, sooo you can check and see I guess." Anne Maria and Dawn look down into the pit.

Dawn gasps. "Sam!" Sam is sprawled at the bottom with his eyes closed, teeth marks all over him. The maggots stare up at her with beady red eyes.

"Oh, so that's his name!" Owen says. "Heheh."

"Owen, you lower me down and I'll lift him up," Dawn says.

"Hold on there, doll. Those skinny arms ain't gonna cut it," Anne Maria says. "_I'll_ do it."

"Oh, well, thank you." Dawn examines her arms covered in her green sweater.

Owen holds Anne Maria's feet as she crawls into the pit. Soon she dangles as he lowers her slowly toward Sam. She reaches for Sam's arm and grabs it with both hands. "Lift me up!" she shouts.

Dawn grabs onto Anne Maria's feet with Owen as they pull her out. They drag her onto the ground with Sam and let go, falling on their butts.

"Phew!" Owen wipes his forehead. Dawn slouches over, mouth dropping to reveal her tongue.

Anne Maria gets up and dusts herself down. She looks at Sam, who's still out cold. "We betta not have to _carry_ him. He weighs a ton!"

Dawn walks over to crouch in front of Sam. "Oh dear," she says in a rush of air. "He's lost a lot of blood. He needs medical treatment." She turns to Owen. "Owen, can you bring him to the infirmary? I trust that you know best out of all of us."

"Yeah, I went there when I broke my jaw on Season Two. They have tasty cough drops!" He lifts up Sam and hoists him onto his back.

"Thank you for doing this for us," Dawn says. "Now, we must find Cameron. Quickly!" She and Anne Maria dash off.

Scott is running at a slow pace, lurching with each step. His face droops with his mouth open while panting. He twists his head toward Fang, who has resorted to a jog and is gaining ground on him.

A pit approaches in front of Scott. He puts on a burst of speed and, reaching the edge, throws himself across it. Fang looks straight ahead and ignores the hole until his feet leave the ground. With its eyes widened, the shark monster disappears into the depths. His growling wail diminishes to a murmur, then a thump rises.

Scott is on the ground in a heap. He blinks and stands up, staring down the hole. His face stretches into a giant grin. "HA! Take that, you freak of nature!" A thick net made of webs collapses on him from the sky. "Woah- oof!" He lands on his face. The net is whisked into the air, muffled yells coming from inside it.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"I hate this challenge," Scott says, crossing his arms over his chest. "Seriously, the minute I finally get that stupid shark off my tail, I get kidnapped by a spider!"

* * *

Mike and Lightning pass by where Scott just was a moment ago. "Where on Earth did he go?" Lightning says.

"He must've gotten captured by the spider," Mike replies with a shiver.

Lightning gives a vigorous shake of his head. "No way. We can't already have lost _three_ members before the third clue."

"That's the case, unfortunately." Mike presses his palm against his forehead. "God, I wish I knew where our teammates went. They just disappeared out of nowhere!"

Lightning puts on a scowl. "Yeah, and now Lightning's stuck with just you." His expression dissipates as they walk past a standing coffin with its lid open towards them. He freezes in place and takes several steps backward to stand in front of the lid. "Hey, wait! It's the key!"

Mike walks over, stopping several yards from Lightning. He leans forward and peers at the key. "Huh. So that's where it went."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"There's a big gap in my memory from yesterday's challenge," Mike says. "I don't even remember walking back to the cabin! And I _know_ something happened that's making Zoey distant towards me and Lightning, well, very much dislike me." His shoulders fall. "I can't even be comfortable around my own teammates. Well, actually, I'm always on guard with my disorder and people finding out. Still, I'm absolutely positive that one of my personalities took over. I've been trying to talk to them, but none of them will tell me anything."

* * *

Dawn and Anne Maria hurry past the edge of the graveyard next to the trees. "I think Cameron got captured. We haven't seen him this whole time," Anne Maria says.

Dawn covers her face with her hands. "I knew this would happen, and I let it happen anyway." Her voice comes out as a tremor. "Fate has run its course. I was so _foolish_ to think I could prevent it before it was too late."

"That seeing-into-the-future thing is weird. I'm more a present type of gal," Anne Maria says. "Why do ya care so much anyway? It's just a game."

"I just- I'm so worried about what happened to our teammates." She takes a deep breath as they run. "But you're right, I shouldn't be. I suppose Sam's accident has shaken me a little."

"Yeah, it's not like Brick and Cameron got injured too. They're probably waiting for us at the end of this challenge." Anne Maria halts and points ahead. "Wait! What's that glint near the tree?"

They run over to the pine. Dawn picks a golden key off the ground. "Cameron had the key," she says in a hushed voice.

She stands up and turns to Anne Maria. "We need to stick together. Cameron was right all along- anyone who gets separated gets caught." She puts her arm out to Anne Maria, pale eyes searching her face.

Anne Maria rolls her eyes. "We don't need to _link arms_ to stick together." Nevertheless, she puts her arm through Dawn's. They run alongside the graveyard border, then curve left toward the gravestone with the keyhole. Lightning and Mike also arrive at the gravestone. Both groups stare at each other.

"We got here first," Lightning says.

"No, we did!" Anne Maria says.

"No, you two were making a turn when we got here."

"Yeah right," she scoffs, "you two were still running ova here!"

Their voices overlap and grow to the volume of twin trumpets. Both make aggressive hand motions that stir the air around them. "STOP IT!" Dawn and Mike yell.

Anne Maria and Lightning fall silent, looking at their teammates. "You use your key first," Dawn and Mike say to each other.

Mike shakes his head. "Okay, that's gotta stop." He steps onto the elevated grass in front of the gravestone and inserts the key.

Dawn's eyes go wide. "Wait a second-"

**BOING! **Mike goes flying from the coffin that shoots upright out of the grass. He lands a few seconds later with a resounding "Owww".

Lightning opens the wooden lid to reveal shelves inside. The first row is stocked with five flashlights. He takes four and tosses two of them to Anne Maria and Dawn. "Lightning always plays a fair game, no matter what."

"That sounds like something Brick would say," Dawn says, her mouth falling at the sides. Anne Maria pulls her along, and they run off toward the exit.

Mike walks over to Lightning, holding his head. "Here," Lightning says, shoving a flashlight into his hand. "Now come on, they're getting away!" They sprint after Anne Maria and Dawn.

Lightning and Mike manage to reach the cave ahead of the other two. Each team's flag is on either side of the entrance.

Chris's voice echoes out of the cave with crackling in the background. "Welcome to your final destination! The clue is just inside the entrance...and down the tunnel...into total darkness. Good luck! You'll need it..."

They exchange a glance before stepping inside.

Both turn on their flashlights. Lightning shines his ahead, illuminating a skeleton attached to a web on the wall. The web looms over them, the skeleton wearing what looks like an intern's outfit in shreds.

Mike lets loose a tremor. "That's not a real skeleton, is it?"

Lightning plucks a piece of paper off the skeleton's shirt. Taking several strides away from the web, he reads, "By hook or by crook, the end is near if you look."

"So the last souvenir is a hook or a crook?" Mike asks.

Lightning shrugs. "Apparently." He forges on ahead, and Mike follows.

Anne Maria and Dawn arrive at the mouth of the cave. Both lean on their knees while panting. "How- were they able to- pass us with our- head start?" Anne Maria says.

"Both- of them play- sports," Dawn replies. "I can see it- in their auras."

"Don't care about- that aura business." Anne Maria turns on her flashlight and walks inside the cave, and Dawn jogs up behind her.

"Wait up guys!"

The girls swivel around. "Sam! Thank Mother Nature you're okay!" Dawn says.

Sam jogs over with a grin on his face. He has bandages covering his limbs, and some are on his neck. His clothes are still ripped and soiled. "You didn't think I'd skip out on the rest of the challenge, did you?"

"Well, we thought you'd be _out_ for the rest of the challenge," Anne Maria says.

"Nah, docs just patched me up and had me lie down for an hour. The maggots only wanted to eat the grease, not me." He chuckles.

Dawn wraps her arms around Sam's middle. He lifts his arms up, winces, and hugs her back.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: DAWN

"I've grown quite fond of my team throughout this show," Dawn says. "In fact, I didn't realize just how much I cared until this very challenge! As we kept losing teammates one by one, I became more and more anxious, so it was a major relief to see Sam back. I shall tend to the forest animals after this challenge is over as my way of thanking our kind and generous Mother Nature."

* * *

Lightning and Mike walk through a narrow tunnel with stalactites hanging from above. Mike keeps checking the walls with his flashlight while Lightning leads the way.

Mike turns and shines the flashlight behind him. His eyes dart around the path from which they came. Seeing nothing but rock, his shoulders relax and he continues walking.

"Stop acting paranoid," Lightning says, casting a glance at him. "Unless you're gonna try to make us lose again."

Mike stares at the back of his head. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." Lightning faces Mike, making him stop in his tracks. "Look, _I_ value team victory, and it angers me to see anyone who won't work with the team, or even worse, work _against_ the team. And that combined with you messing with the Lightning makes you his enemy. So either you try to be a team player, or stay out of the team effort period. Got it?"

Mike nods with a stiff neck, the color drained from his face.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"_What_ did I do?" Mike says, hands on the sides of his head. "I swear I'm losing my mind."

* * *

Lightning's flashlight shows a rock shaped like a skull at the end of the cave. Six hooks stick out of it in different directions. "There's the last souvenir!" Lightning says, pointing ahead. "Sha-yeah!"

Mike directs his flashlight to the side of the cave, viewing the massive room they have entered. As he sweeps across the wall, the light hits the giant spider's web, making the caught teens squint.

Without turning his wide-eyed gaze, he taps Lightning's shoulder. "What?" Lightning says. When he sees the size of the web, his jaw drops.

"Can you point that thing somewhere else?" Scott says, shutting his eyes with a scowl.

"Er, sorry." Mike shifts the light onto the ceiling, where stalactites the size of refrigerators point down. A large shadow moves among them. He follows it with the flashlight until it crawls into view. The spider is as tall as the average woman and the color of an eggplant, its abdomen large enough to hold a child inside. It brandishes needle-sharp fangs at Mike and Lightning, letting out a noise between a hiss and a screech.

Mike and Lightning scream high in their throats. Jo turns her head back and forth. "Huh? Who's that?"

"It's Mike and Lightning," Zoey replies. "They've come to free us!...maybe. Hopefully."

Just then, Dawn, Anne Maria, and Sam run into the cave area. Dawn has given Sam her flashlight, which he flashes around the cave. "Hey, there's the next souvenir!" He points the flashlight upward. "Hey, there's our teammates!" The spider hisses from above, and Sam shines his flashlight on it. "Hey, a gigantic spider!"

His eyes become unfocused. "Uhh. This is so cool, my head is spinning."

"Any idea how we're gonna reach that web?" Mike asks Lightning.

"We can climb the walls on either side of the web," Lightning says. "That way we can free our team faster."

"They don't look very climbable..." The walls of the cave are smooth, with few interruptions in between.

"It's the only way I can see," Lightning says. They split to opposite sides of the web and begin scaling the rock.

"If we grab the souvenir while the Maggots are busy, we'll be first!" Anne Maria says.

"But our teammates' lives are at stake!" Sam says, pointing an arm at the web.

"That's not quite true, actually," Dawn says. "I can sense in the spider's aura that it does not have the intention of killing or eating anyone. However, we'll suffer the penalties if we don't save them."

Anne Maria crosses her arms. "Fine. We'll probably lose this way, but whateva."

Mike and Lightning are making steady progress. The camera cuts to Lightning reaching the web. He steps onto it near Jo, who turns her head to him. "Who's there, Pointy or Jockstrap?"

"Lightning," he says while glaring at her. "You're calling me nicknames _now_?"

"Sorry, slip of the tongue. What are you doing here?"

"What do you mean what am I doing here? I'm freeing you guys." Lightning begins tugging at the webs wrapped around Jo's body.

"You shouldn't be freeing us, you should be at the finish line by now!"

He pauses. "But isn't there a penalty given for every lost member?"

"Yeah, but you should still be trying to _win_," Jo says. At his silence, she sighs. "Well, I don't call you Sha-Dork for nothing."

"Well, unlike you, I'm a team player." Lightning rips off her webs, scattering them to the floor. He peels away the webs covering her eyes, and she blinks. "Now help us free our other teammates."

"Alright," Jo says with indifference, and Lightning's eyebrows rise. She sidesteps along the web over to Scott.

Mike reaches the other side of the web next to Zoey. "Hi Zoey. Hanging in there? Heheh."

One side of her mouth quirks up. "It's not like I have a choice."

"That'll soon change, I assure you." Mike grunts as he pulls on the strings restricting her. "Man, these webs are thick! Rrruhh!" He tears the webs in half, and Zoey steps out. Her knees wobble. Just as she teeters off the web, Mike catches her arm.

Zoey lets go of her breath. "Whoa, that was close. I haven't walked in hours! Thanks."

"Anytime," he says. He climbs alongside Zoey over to the wall.

Anne Maria is scaling the rock ahead of Dawn and Sam. By the time she arrives at the web, only Cameron and Brick are still entangled. She puts her foot down on one of threads near the edge, pausing to catch her breath. "Well. That took- forever."

A high-pitched scream rises near her and echoes throughout the cave. "Cameron?" she gasps.

"SPIDER!" Cameron shrieks, his face twitching as the purple mutant spider waves its legs near him. Brick wriggles around in his body cast, eyes fixed on Cameron. He mouths "Oh no" over and over. Cameron's skin glistens, teeth grating together as the spider put its six beady eyes close to his dilated ones.

"EEEYAHHH!" He bursts out of the webs and tackles the spider, sending it to dangle in the air. His fists slam over and over again into the spider's back. All of his teammates watch with their mouths open.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

Cameron's expression displays utter calmness. "Ah, adrenaline," he says. "Nature's super strength formula. Someone should really bottle it!"

* * *

After grabbing their hooks, the Maggots run over to a rope sloping down from a stalagmite it's tied to. They come to a stop at the cliff.

Mike steps forward and looks down into the depths. He swallows. "That looks really deep." He turns to his team. "Anyone wanna go first?"

"I'll go," Jo and Lightning say.

Lightning crosses his arms. "Are you serious with the Lightning right now?"

"I most definitely am, Protein Puff. I'm doing it to make sure it's safe for the rest of us."

"What, have you changed into a whole 'nother guy in a couple hours?"

"Look, I'll do it," Zoey says. The two athletes look at her. "I just want to get out of here. Don't you?"

She walks to the edge of the cliff and hangs her hook on the rope. For several seconds she stands frozen in place, arms up over her head. Then, her feet leave the cliff and she sails through the air. Mike and Scott follow in close pursuit, with Jo and Lightning joining in a moment later.

The five teens streak along the rope into a tunnel. Their screams mix with the growls and hisses resounding in the blind darkness. They come out of the tunnel to the end of the rope, tied around a stalactite. The hooks unhinge on the rock, throwing all the Maggots into a heap besides Lightning.

Lightning flips in midair and lands in front of his team. "Sha-bam! Now was that a magnificent flip or what?"

Jo scoffs. "Show-off."

Chris walks over to them. "Maggots, first to arrive. Since you have brought all five members to the finish line, you are hereby the winners of today's challenge!"

Jo raises a fist in the air. "Yes!"

"Sweet victory!" Lightning shouts, high-fiving Scott.

"Whoo hoo, yeah!" Mike raises his arms toward Zoey, and drops them right away. "Sorry, you can just ignore that. I don't know what I was thi-"

She puts her arms around him. "Victory hug!" Mike hugs her back. The two smile at each other.

The Rats fly out of the tunnel, landing in a pile. Cameron flops on top. "Oof! Huh, soft landing."

"Sorry Rats, the Maggots already won," Chris says. "You guys are the big losers of today's challenge."

"Aww," Brick says. His teammates' faces fall.

"Ohoho, but wait! There's a twist at hand," Chris says with a sly grin. "Both teams are eliminating someone tonight."

"WHAT?" the Maggots yell.

"But we _won_! What was the point of winning this challenge?" Jo says.

Chris shrugs. "None, really. But it was a lot o' fun, right?"

The Maggots narrow their eyes at him. Just then, a hissing comes out of the tunnel. The teens turn to watch as the giant spider lets go of its hook and lands in front of them. They all scream and back away.

It lets out a cackle and lifts its head off, revealing a girl with red hair and green eyes. "Oh! Oh! The looks on your faces! Oh, they were priceless!" She bursts into cackles once more.

Anne Maria points at Izzy. "Hey, it's that crazy girl from the first generation cast!"

Izzy stops laughing, her mouth drawn in a straight line. "I'm not crazy." She breaks into a grin showing all her teeth. "I'm psycho!"

The contestants take several steps back.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"Turns out it was just one of the old cast members in a spider costume," Cameron says, watching a spider crawl along his index finger. "Thankfully, it cured me of my arachnophobia." He draws his hands to his chin, and the spider is left hanging from its web. "Although now I'm completely terrified of Izzy."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"I've come up with the realization that I need to align myself more with my team," Jo says. "That is, if I want to get far in this game. I'm not gonna become all 'buddy-buddy' with them, I'll just make sure they don't try to target me." Her lips curl. "And I can start by making an alliance to ensure _I_ don't get voted out."

* * *

The campers are walking on the forest path back to the cabins. "Hey, Jockstrap," Jo says in a light tone.

Lightning hardly looks at her. "What do you want, Jo?"

Jo pats his back. "I'm glad you asked! You, me, Scott. Alliance. What do you think?"

"I'd never make an alliance with you if my life depended on it!"

"Not even for a spot in the merge? Listen, I'm not planning for this to be long-lasting, like either of us want that. But we're the two strongest players on our team. If we get one more person on our side, we can control the vote."

Lightning focuses on the path ahead. Jo sees this and smiles. "You can get back to me later. I know it's a tempting offer."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

"Lightning does want to get past the merge," Lightning says, holding his chin. "But you know, what he _really_ wants to hear is Jo apologize for all he's done."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"Jo came to me just now asking for an alliance," Scott says. "Lightning's apparently included, which surprised me 'cause I thought the two hated each other!" He chuckles. "Guess Protein-for-Brains can't hold a grudge."

* * *

Both teams sit at the campfire on their stumps, clearly separate from each other. A soft hum sits in the air from their chatter. They all become quiet as Chris clears his throat. "At this point, both the Rats and the Maggots have become familiar with the campfire ceremony. Those of you who receive a marshmallow from this tray here are safe. Whoever receives the toxic marshmallow of loserdom is g-o-n-e, GONE. No one else is pulling a Dakota, got it?" He lowers his pointer finger that he waved at the contestants. "The following Rats are safe."

"Dawn." Dawn claps her hands and goes to get her marshmallow.

"Anne Maria." Anne Maria grins and stands up.

"Brick."

Brick rises and turns to face his teammates. "Comrades, I express my thanks for keeping me from elimination. I know I didn't do my best job in today's challenge, but tomorrow is a new day, and-"

"Sit down, soldier!" Jo shouts.

Anne Maria swivels around with her marshmallow. "Hey! Brick has the right to speak, so shut your own piehole."

"Can you let me finish with the name-calling please?" Chris says. "The final marshmallow goes to..."

Dawn gets up from her stump. "Wait! Why is Cameron on the chopping-block?" She motions with her hand to Cameron beside her.

"His plan to stick together didn't exactly work," Sam says. Anne Maria and Brick nod.

"But Brick, you got caught by going to get the key on your own! And Sam, you only got caught because all of us split up at the graveyard. After that, Anne Maria and I stayed together and neither of us were taken. Cameron's plan would've worked if we had all just listened to him!"

Her teammates glance from her face to the ground. "It's tough on all of us to eliminate a team member, Dawn," Brick says. "You may be fond of Cameron, but we all voted on our own terms."

"It's okay, Dawn," Cameron says. "I'm fine with leaving."

"Can I finish?" Chris says, each of his words clipped. "The Rat eliminated tonight is..._Cameron_."

Sam smiles and stands up. "What a relief!" Chef flings the toxic marshmallow at Cameron, who shields his head and ducks. The marshmallow hisses as it sinks through the ground.

Cameron gets on his feet with a sigh. "Time to go back to my bubble." He looks at all his teammates, his gaze finally landing on Dawn. "Well, I'll always remember you guys."

"Cameron, sit down. You're not leaving just yet," Chris says.

"Really? But I thought we were being launched individually."

"You thought wrong." Cameron sits down.

"Now for the Maggots." Chris turns to the other half of the stumps. "The following players are safe."

"Lightning."

"Yeah!" Lightning runs over to the marshmallow tray.

"Scott." Scott rises up with a bland smile.

"Mike." Mike releases his breath, then gasps as he looks at Zoey without a marshmallow.

"The loser going home on the Maggots' side is..." Jo folds her arm. She glares at Zoey as she crosses her fingers and bows her head, eyes shut.

"_Zoey_."

Zoey slumps over, the second toxic marshmallow going over her head. "Aww. I was really hoping to make it to the merge at least. That would've been awesome."

"I would've liked to see you there too," Mike says. "I'll miss you. Would you, uh, wanna stay in touch?"

She smiles. "Sure! At least that's _something_ I got out of this show."

"Oh, you're not going anywhere for now. Neither are you, Cameron," Chris says. "Because, you guys are switching teams!"

"Really? Sweet!" Zoey says. Cameron stiffens as the Maggots turn their eyes on him, Jo's stare intimidating in particular.

"Way to ruin our team, McLean," Jo says.

Chris gives her a white smile with narrowed eyes. "You're welcome." He faces the camera, still smiling. "With the brand-new team switcheroo, what's next in store for those losers? How will their team dynamics be affected? You'll have to find out next time, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

NOTE: I hope that the next update won't take as long as this one! My goal is to get a chapter out every 2 weeks or less. Honest feedback on this chapter would be wonderful, as I did quite a bit of experimenting with how I wrote the Finders Creepers episode. This story will branch out more and more from the canon with each episode. There is a little poll I have created that asks your opinion on the Jock (JoxBrick) pairing. The results will have an influence on how I make Jo and Brick interact with each other. I already have plans for them, but they are subject to change!


	9. Backstabbers Ahoy! (Part 1)

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

WishStar: Yes, you made yourself quite clear before about your opinion on Jock. ;-) Thing is, I have two plots in mind for Brick that I cannot combine: one with Jock, and one without. The plot not involving Jo as his love interest would mostly be in a future All-Stars remake that I want to write. So the question is whether I should pick the plot that comes early, or the plot that comes later. At that, I am stumped.

TDRI: Thanks for your input, and for reading my story!

Readers are encouraged (by me) to check the Jock poll on my profile. So far, there are more people do NOT support the pairing than those who do, by one person!

P.S. I kept accidentally clicking out of the document and erasing huge segments of my writing, so I had to retype them all over again. This happened twice, effectively delaying the time this update came out. -_-

* * *

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Sam, Dawn, Zoey

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Lightning, Cameron

ELIMINATED: Staci, Dakota, B

**RECAP**

Chris stands on the dock underneath a vibrant sky with Chef. "Last time on Total Drama Revenge of Island!: Ten campers went on a scavenger hunt that was spookyyyy. Lightning and Mike got on each other's nerves- actually, Mike just got on Lightning's nerves." He chuckles. "The first alliance of the season was formed! Also, I switched Zoey and Cameron onto opposite teams. Hey, it's my show. I can do whatever I _want_.

"Lastly, arachnid Izzy showed up to do an eight-legged tap dance for a captive audience. Who will ride the Hurl of Shame next? How many times can I laugh at them before then? Find out right now, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

Chef crosses his arms. "Why're ya having me stand here anyway?"

Chris's mouth pushes up into a pout. "You didn't have to come. I just thought you'd want to."

Chef glances at his face before looking at the sky. "Whatever."

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

On the left side of the males' bedroom, Lightning and Scott's bodies rise and fall under their blankets. The camera view moves over to the other side, where Cameron is sitting up in his sleeping bag. He scribbles at a lightning pace in a notepad, lifting his head at the bunk above him.

The view shifts up to Mike, who is crouching on his bed. "Alright, which one of you guys was it?" His voice is slow and murmuring. "Please don't, Svetlana."

"Stick ze landing Svetlana," he says in a higher tone. "Practice makes perfect ten." He spreads out his arms and springs to his full height.

**CRACK! **Mike's eyes shoot open. "OW!" His knees fall out from under him, and he tips off the edge of the bed.

**THUMP! **He lands on his back with a crack. His eyes are squeezed shut, limbs spread out in a star position.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"That was _not_ a good wake-up call," Mike says. His eyelids droop, making the bags under his eyes more prominent. "I don't even want to go back to sleep, or else my personalities might kill me. Svetlana specifically."

* * *

Cameron stares at Mike as Lightning and Scott sit up. "What the heck was that?" Scott says, turning his head left and right. He clutches the edge of his his bed and leans over. "Wow, Mike... You okay?"

Mike touches his head and winces. "No, not really."

"What's not okay is interrupting Lightning's sleep for the hundredth time!" Lightning flops back into bed and folds the pillow over his ears. He lifts it off just as quickly, looking ahead at the wall. "Hey, wait a second."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

"Why is Jo on the girls' side of the cabin?" Lightning says. "He could've moved into the guys' side after B got out! Unless he has a thing for Zoey. I thought Mike had that though. Huh, lucky Jo."

* * *

Jo stands in the middle of the girls' bedroom wearing a towel. "Ah...solitude at last. I can finally work out like the ancient Olympians." She unties the towel.

Lightning opens the door. "Hey Jo, why don't you move in to t-" His eyes pop wide open.

Jo clutches the towel ends in a fist around her chest. She jabs her finger at the door, her face dark red. "_GET OUT_!"

Doing a shaky turn, Lightning walks out the door and shuts it behind him.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

Jo is back in her sweatsuit, though her eyes keep darting from the camera. The color in her face has gathered into her cheeks. "I don't think he saw anything but my- my-"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

Zoey raises both arms in the air. "Hooray for fresh beginnings!" She lowers them and smiles. "I have a chance to make a good impression on my new teammates. It's great that there's more girls to talk to. I can hardly start a conversation with a guy- except Mike. Still, I think us separating is a good thing." Her eyebrows press inward. "Not because of the 'Vito' incident, he must've been in a bad mood. It happens to everyone! I mean, he's been- he _was_ so nice to me otherwise. If I wanted a boyfriend, he would be it. But I don't do that kind of thing, relationships."

* * *

The camera view shows the back of Dawn as she walks toward the woods, humming to herself.

"Hey, Dawn!"

Dawn turns toward the camera. "Good morning, Brick."

The perspective switches to full view as Brick jogs up to Dawn, wearing a grin that forms crinkles around his eyes. "Good morning. Would you like some company during your walk?"

"I'll be alright on my own. Thank you for the offer though."

His grin vanishes, and he scratches the back of his neck. "Are- are you sure? I mean, there are some dangerous mutant animals in there."

"They're harmless as long as you don't startle them."

"Really?" Brick says, both eyebrows lifted.

Dawn smiles. "Indeed. Their mutations have made them a little agitated, but they're still animals."

"Animals can still hurt you," he says. "I consider it my duty, ma'am, to keep you safe from the _agitated_ ones."

She tilts her head while staring at him. "Hm. Well, if you insist." She begins edging into the trees, and Brick walks beside her.

The two stroll along on the twigs and pine needles littering the dirt floor. Dawn stoops to examine a curly sprout standing above a patch of grass. "Toxic waste exposure has killed much of the plant life here," she murmurs. "Still, Mother Nature never stops giving her gifts all over the world- even to this small contaminated island."

"I never thought of nature that way," Brick says. "Back in Cadets, though, we learned how to survive the elements." He grins. "I also learned in Muskrat Boys when I was little."

Dawn stands and turns to him. "I can tell it still means a lot to you."

He opens his mouth, and no words come out. "...Yeah, it does. H-how did you know?"

"It's in your aura." Her eyebrows pinch inward. "It was the thing you looked forward to most among the teasing you suffered in school. When you were of age, you moved on to military school and created a new identity that you need to assert to others. That is why you came with me on this trip."

Brick's eyes have widened as she spoke. He squints at her now with flat black irises. "You don't know what you're talking about. I'm not like that at all! I grew out of that teasing and became the kind of person I wanted to be, that I'm _proud_ of."

"You've always been a good person, Brick. Please try to understand- I don't want you to feel bound to this 'better' identity. It's okay to be weak sometimes, those who care won't judge you. If you continue to act on the need to prove yourself, you will wear yourself out doing good for others." She pauses to take a breath. "Your actions should come out of the goodness of your heart, not for your own sake."

"I know you mean well, Dawn, and I'm grateful for your concern," Brick says. "But I'd rather you not mention my childhood. It's not really something I like to talk about. I'm sorry for snapping at you before." Dawn only has time to nod before he walks away.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: BRICK

"Dawn has this amazing skill of reading into other people's lives," Brick says. "However, she doesn't understand the toughening treatment you get as a cadet. 'No weakness is allowed on the battleground, meaning it will NOT be allowed on the training ground!'" His voice has dropped to a booming growl like a lion. "Drill instructor's orders. You know, I once had a fear of the dark before I learned how to suppress it. It is my sole dream to become a fearless fighter for my country." His smile wavers.

* * *

All the teens sit at their team tables in the main lodge eating breakfast, which consists of bacon, chicken legs, and other unidentifiable meats mushed together. An apple lays on the side of every tray.

Scott, Jo, and Lightning sit on one side of the Maggots' table. Cameron takes a piece of bacon and chews on it, keeping his eyes down.

Jo puts down her fork. "Listen here, Toothpick." Cameron looks up mid-chew. "I'm in charge of this team, take it or leave it. But if you try anything against me, you'll be voted off next. I'll make sure of it. Understood?"

"Mhm." Cameron swallows. "I got it."

"Good." She takes up her fork and shovels meat into her mouth.

Lightning shakes his head. "You still _eat_ like a dude..." The others look at him.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I was ready to go home yesterday," Cameron says. "I'm suspended in disbelief right now, though Jo's sure to knock it out of me soon enough." His mouth stretches into a thin line. "But I won't let this second chance go to waste. I'm going to strategize from here on in to get myself into the merge."

* * *

Zoey sits between Dawn and Sam, with Brick and Anne Maria facing the three. "Well, Zoey, welcome to the Toxic Rats!" Sam says with a flourish.

"Glad to be here!" Zoey says, pushing her fork with her finger. "I can't wait to get to know you guys."

Dawn watches Zoey's fork. "Don't feel nervous, you''ll fit in just fine."

Zoey stops, lifts her fork, and smiles. "That means a lot to me, honestly."

"Why's that?" Brick asks. Anne Maria stares ahead as the rest look at Zoey.

"I didn't really fit in with my last team. Jo was pretty much team captain, and she didn't like me that much."

"She can be disagreeable at times, but I've always seen her as a strong competitor," Brick says.

Zoey bobs her head. "Oh, she is." Just then, feedback sounds over the loudspeaker.

"Attention campers!" Chris says. "Breakfast is cutting into precious time that you can spend getting injured. Grab your swimsuits and meet me at the dock, pronto!"

* * *

The campers stand on either side of the dock wearing their swimsuits. A crumpled scuba suit sits in front of each team, attached by tube to oxygen pumps decorated with the team symbols. "Alright! Here to help us get today's competition under way, say hello to one of our classic competitors, Bridgette!" Chris says.

A canoe comes to the dock, with Owen in front and Bridgette in the back. "Let's get this over with! Remember, my contract said demonstration only," Bridgette says, pointing at Chris.

Chris puts one hand up. "Relax. No demo needed. Just chum the water with Owen." He raises a finger. "Challenge, Part One: each team must get a pair of water skis in an underwater mission, or drown trying. One victim- I mean camper- will snag the skis in an old school diving suit and float them to the surface, while the rest of their team pumps them oxygen. First team to surface their skis wins, and gets an advantage in Part Two. So, decide who's diving!"

"I'll dive," Jo says to her team. "Any objections?"

Mike's forehead creases. "Uh, yeah. How do you know none of us are faster swimmers than you?"

"Yeah, I bet I'm the fastest here!" Lightning says.

"Remember the race across the lake after Chris blew up our ship? I made it to shore second after some Rat girl," Jo says. Mike and Scott glance at each other as Lightning scowls.

"That wasn't an actual race," Cameron says. Jo grabs the scuba helmet and shoves it onto his head, causing him to fall over with a loud_ clunk_.

"Jo makes a solid point." His voice sounds smaller inside the helmet.

"Listen to Chicken-Legs, get busy pumping air, and _don't make me use my whistle_." Jo pats her neck and gasps. "Alright, who took my whistle?!"

Lightning and Mike crouch near Cameron. "Don't mind Jo. She likes to think she's the boss of everything," Lightning says. He stretches out his hand.

Cameron takes it, and Lightning pulls him into the air. Landing on his feet, he tilts backward and hits the dock with a grunt. Lightning raises his eyebrows. "It's the helmet weighing him down," Mike says.

Before they can reach for it, Jo marches up and yanks the helmet off Cameron's head. "I'll be needing that," she says, and walks away.

"I volunteer to dive for our team," Brick says to the Rats. "In Cadets, we swam against the currents of a river to build endurance and character."

"Wow! That sounds like the training of a warrior apprentice," Zoey says.

Anne Maria coughs. "Weirdo."

"Do you play video games?" Sam asks.

"No, I just watch a lot of action movies. I do some crafts in my spare time too." Zoey points to the pin in her hair and smiles. "I made this flower, see?"

"Is that made of_ felt_?" Anne Maria asks, squinting one eye. "Girl, can't you afford the fake flowers in shops?"

Zoey's smile dissipates. "Uh, I think we should let Brick be the diver, what about you guys?" Sam says. The team nods, Zoey lowering her eyes to the dock.

Dawn walks to her and smiles. "I think your flower is pretty."

Zoey looks up and blinks. "Thank you. Dawn, is it?" Dawn nods. "I remember talking to you before, right over there." She points to the group of rocks on the shore.

Dawn shifts where she's standing. "Yes. I may have imposed myself upon you at the time. My apologies."

"No worries!" Zoey forms a smile. "It was rude of me to walk away without getting to know you. I'm glad I have the chance now."

Jo and Brick step to the middle of the dock. Jo smirks. "Well, looks like I have easy competition."

Brick narrows his eyes in the midst of smiling. "We'll see about that." The two put on their scuba suits.

Chris lifts one finger. "Ready...GO!"

**SPLASH! **Jo and Brick sink to the bottom and squint ahead. A boulder stands in the distance, balancing both pairs of water skis. Jo shoves the water in an arch behind her while kicking her feet as Brick wriggles forward with his arms at his sides.

Jo turns her head to Brick. Her laughter pierces through the helmet. "Hey, Little Mermaid! Wanna try using your arms?"

"I'll have you know that I placed second in a swimming race with my fellow cadets," Brick says.

"Who got in first, the guy who swam with his arms?"

Brick grunts. "Maybe."

"Exactly, Pants-Wetter. You're not the worst swimmer though, I'll give you that." Brick's face twitches as Jo swims further away.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: BRICK

"I do not appreciate your nicknames, Jo," Brick says, pointing at the camera. "I'm tired of your insults. I wish you'd treat me with a little more_ respect_." He shakes his head. "If I could just gather the courage to say these things to her face..."

* * *

The Rats shout encouragements into the water as Anne Maria pumps air. "Go BricK!" Zoey and Dawn say.

"Imagine that a Cheep Chomp is chasing you!" Sam yells.

Anne Maria turns around. "A _what_?"

Brick switches to the way Jo is swimming, speeding up right away. He closes the gap between them bit by bit until they are neck and neck and approaching the boulder.

Jo turns her head, and her mouth forms a wide "o". "What the-" She growls and puts on a burst of speed.

"Come on Jo!" Mike shouts.

"You can do it!" Scott says.

"Hmph. If Jo had let me swim, those skis would be surfaced by now," Lightning mutters, pushing down on the oxygen pump.

Cameron kneels at the edge of the dock and stares into the water. "It's a close race, guys." Mike and Scott go to sit on either side of him.

"Cameron, I just wanted to say- welcome to our team," Scott says. "I'm sorry no one said it to you sooner."

Cameron raises his eyebrows. "It's fine. I didn't really think about that anyway." Mike gazes at Scott for a moment before looking away.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Something about Scott's behavior seems off to me," Mike says. "I'm not saying that I know Scott really well, it's just that I might not know him as well as I thought." He scratches the back of his neck. "Huh. That sounds kinda weird."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"Ever since Cameron came, there are loads of possibilities in the playing field," Scott says, rubbing his hands together. "I have to play my cards right to get what I want- Lightning and Jo gone. And Mega Jock's going home first."

* * *

Brick is ahead of Jo and only a few yards from the boulder. A tall pointed shadow pops over it quick as a flash. Brick falters and sinks to the ground on his feet. "Whoa- what was _that_?"

Jo passes by him with a smirk. "Tired already?" She lands in front of the boulder and tugs at one of the ropes tying down the skis.

"JO, LOOK OUT!" Brick screams. Jo looks up just as Fang descends on her, jaws open wide.

"AH-" Fang engulfs her helmet. His teeth scrape against the metal, and his smile drops. Furrows form in his forehead as he gnaws on the helmet, spit smearing the glass.

The camera view shifts to Chris standing on the dock with the contestants. "We care about the safety of our contestants, thus proving it with providing shark-proof helmets." A grin stretches across his face. "Of course, the rest of their bodies are fair game."

The campers look at him, their mouths twisted downward. Anne Maria and Lightning stop pumping. "Yeeeshh," Chris says, lowering his eyelids. "You guys take my jokes way too seriously."

Brick speeds through the water toward Fang and Jo. Jo flails her fists and hits Fang on the nose. She turns her body to him and sends a foot into his stomach. Fang spits out her head and whimpers, swimming away.

"Stupid shark!" Jo yells, raising her fist at Fang.

Brick descends in front of her. "Jo! You're alive, thank God!"

"Yup, I'm alive, and now I'm gonna win." Jo pulls the loosened rope so her pair of skis float upward. She swims to the surface with them.

The skis pop onto the surface, Jo rising a second later. "And the Maggots win the first challenge!" Chris says.

The Maggots cheer as the Rats stand in silence. As Jo is climbing onto the dock, Brick reaches the surface with his pair of skis.

Brick joins his team at the dock. "Dude, what happened?" Sam asks.

Brick pulls off his helmet. "I was ahead of Jo until Fang came and she beat him up, then she freed her team's skis."

"Whoa, hold up. Jo beat up a _shark_?" Anne Maria says.

"Not to mention a mutant one," Zoey says.

"That is a whole new level of epic!" Sam says.

"Yeah," Brick says, craning his head to look at Jo. "She is one formidable enemy."

* * *

NOTE: Another reminder to vote on the Jock poll in my profile. This author's curious.


	10. Backstabbers Ahoy! (Part 2)

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

On my poll, the scale has been tipped in the Jock shippers' favor! Thank you to all who have participated so far.

That is all. Yup! No long list of sentences here.

* * *

**TEAMS**

TOXIC RATS: Brick, Anne Maria, Sam, Dawn, Zoey

MUTANT MAGGOTS: Scott, Jo, Mike, Lightning, Cameron

ELIMINATED: Staci, Dakota, B

"It is time to begin the second part of the challenge: a death-defying water ski race!" Chris turns to the Maggots on one side of the dock. "Since the Maggots surfaced their skis first, they get a McLean-brand speed boat."

Lightning thrusts a fist in the air. "Sha-booyah!" He gives Scott a high-five.

"And for the Rats: a totally leaky dinghy!" The Rats groan. A sleek boat stops smoothly at the dock, carrying Dakota. Several seconds later, an inflated raft putters into position.

Sam's lips quirk into a smile, and he waves to Dakota. She blinks, putting a hand up a bit later.

"The goal of this challenge: be the first to ring four bells on the totally harmless buoys." Chris motions to a buoy shaped like a spiked ball in the distance. Bridgette and Owen paddle around it.

"Which are explosive and can kill you if you get too close!" Bridgette yells. The campers gasp.

Chris squints at her. "Way to spoil the fun, Bridgette. Anyway, choose three campers to water ski, one to drive, and one to operate your gull cannon."

Dawn's eyes go round. "_Gull_ cannon?"

He chuckles. "Yeah, you heard me." A whirring sound comes from the boats, and two rotational shooters sprout. Each has three stacked cages holding seagulls. "Each team gets three chances to shoot the bells- or the other team! Heheh. Whatever floats your boat, get it?" The lake swishes in the background. He sighs. "Whichever team rings the most bells wins."

Cameron stoops to the level of the seagulls. Their snake-like eyes zero in on him, rattle tails waving. "These seagulls look abnormal..."

"Oh, they're abnormal alright. Half seagull, half rattlesnake- all with paralyzing venom." Cameron backs away and stands with the other Maggots.

The teams face into each other. "Since I was the diver before, I'll let other people be the driver and shooter," Jo says.

"You'll_ let_ other people?" Lightning says with a scoff. "Well in that case, Lightning will be the driver."

"I'll be the shooter! Been shooting kitchen rats with my pappy since I was six," Scott says.

Mike raises his eyebrows. "He let you handle a gun at that age?"

Sam holds the cannon on the Rats' dinghy, examining it from all angles. "First-person shooter! Cooool."

"Maybe you should shoot, Sam," Zoey says.

He looks up. "Oh, yeah! Sure."

"Sounds good to me," Brick says with a nod. "Who's a good driver among our troops?"

"I am," Zoey and Anne Maria say.

Anne Maria's eyes narrow. "Fine. You drive. Prove you're not worthless to the team."

Zoey steps to the front of the dinghy. She curls her fingers around the wheel, knuckles turning white, then releases it.

Brick turns to Anne Maria. "Ma'am, I have a question to ask you. Why do you treat our new teammate with hostility?"

"Because she should be home right now! Why does she get a second chance at the million when the others before her were eliminated?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ANNE MARIA

Anne Maria has her arms crossed. "Miss Goody-Goody may have won everyone else over, but I ain't fooled. I don't trust her one bit. I can think of fifty reasons why she shouldn't be here now, number two bein' her dorky hairdo."

* * *

Sam turns his head to Dakota standing on the dock. "Hey, Dakota! I meant to ask this before- how's interning?"

"It sucks." Dakota holds up a bucket full of green mush. "I have to feed this goop to the mutant shark here."

"Yikes! Be careful."

"Uh huh." She tilts her head. "Sam, why do you talk to me?"

Sam's eyebrows go up. "Why do I talk to you? Because, well, I dunno. I enjoy talking to you."

"I've never been nice to you, not that I can remember."

"You've been nice enough," he says, nodding quickly. "Even if you were mean at one point, I must've forgiven you. I mean, I'm not like those enemies in videogames who hold a grudge forever just for the main plot."

Dakota releases a small laugh. "That's, um, good to hear."

"Everybody ready?" Chris says.

"Is this a joke? You can't expect these amateurs to be able to slalom ski," Jo says, gesturing to the others. Anne Maria and Brick are holding their boat's handle as they each stand on one ski. Dawn rides on Brick's back. Mike occupies the ski next to Jo while he carries Cameron.

"What do you mean by 'slalom'?" Brick asks.

"It means ski on one ski," Chris says, "which will be absolutely _hilarious_ to watch." He snickers and lifts his air horn into the air. **HONKKKKKK!**

The Maggots' boat zooms forward, and the skis hit the water. Mike makes a hard left, then veers to the right, tilting at a wide angle. "Whoa-a-a! I can't get this thing strai-" He slips off his ski sideways. _Splash!_

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"I'm good at most sports, especially kickboxing. My counselor recommended it to me as part of my therapy, " Mike says. "Thing is, I've never water-skied before. I bet my wipeout will make it to the final cut. What else..." His face breaks into a wide smile. "Oh yeah, my personalities haven't shown up lately! Thanks to that, things are back to normal with Zoey, other than the fact that we're on different teams now. And I figure that if I work hard enough on the challenges, Lightning will forgive me- er, my personalities- for hurting the team in the fort challenge." He rests his cheek in one hand. "I can't erase whatever my team thinks of me from when I _wasn't_ me, so this is the best I can do."

* * *

The distance between the Rats' dinghy and the Maggots' speedboat widens every second. Brick and Anne Maria ride their skis by lying on their stomachs while holding the handle. "Go faster!" Anne Maria yells.

"It doesn't go any faster!" Zoey says. She stares ahead at the other boat, biting her lip.

Mike heaves himself onto the ski, with Cameron on his back and spewing water. Mike looks up at Jo, who is standing on her ski with hardly a quiver. "How are you doing that?"

"I water ski a lot with my brothers as competition." She shakes her head as Mike tries to put a foot on the ski and wobbles. "Don't even try. I water skied five years to get this good."

He sucks in air, and his eyes glisten. "Mike may fail at water skiing, but Svetlana succeeds at every sport!" Svetlana gets up, placing one foot in front of the other.

"Wha- how'd you learn so quickly?" Jo's voice has risen and become sharp. "You were lying. You have water skied before."

"Well, duh," Svetlana says in an airy fashion. "Unlike you, Svetlana is an Olym-peec champion." Jo squints an eye at her.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: JO

"Pointy's impressions are pretty weird and somewhat annoying," Jo says. "But whatever. 'Svetlana'-" she makes air quotes- "is more of an asset to my team than Mike."

* * *

Owen and Bridgette paddle toward the second buoy in the distance. Owen glances behind him at Bridgette, whose face is frozen as she moves her arms in a mechanical motion. "Hey Bridgette, are you okay?"

Bridgette blinks at him, then sighs. "Yeah, I'm fine Owen. I just don't like being on the show, that's all."

"Why not? Is it because of the drama?"

"That's part of it. It_ has_ ruined my relationships with some people."

"But you have Geoff as your boyfriend, and you're friends with everyone on the show," Owen says.

Bridgette lowers her eyes. "Well, not everyone. I hardly talk to Gwen anymore, or Courtney."

"Oh yeah. Weren't you really good friends with them before?"

She nods. "Then the love triangle with them and Duncan happened. I lost my friendship with Gwen before though. I would've shunned her for kissing Duncan like when she broke up with Trent, but then I realized through Alejandro that my moral compass isn't perfect either. The show got to her too."

Owen's eyes widen. "Yeah, it does that to people! But I think you're still the nicest person on the show."

Bridgette smiles, her expression back to its usual calm. "No, that's you Owen."

The Maggots's boat glides along, the first buoy approaching on its left side. "Buoy up ahead!" Lightning says to Scott.

"I see it," Scott says, peering through the cannon's sight. Right after he loads the cannon, a seagull flies by his face and hits the bell on the buoy.

**BOOM! **Bridgette and Owen jump, then look behind them.

Sam lifts a fist into the air, the other hand on the cannon. "Yes! First strike!"

"Good job, Sam!" Zoey says.

"Excellent shot, soldier!" Brick yells.

"We can win this!" Dawn says.

"Did you really doubt our team, Dawn?" Brick says with a sideways smile.

"Well- yes. But this dinghy is holding up better than I anticipated."

"Get the next buoy or you'll be eliminated tonight, Carrot Top!" Jo shouts.

"Oh, I'll have you gone tomorrow sister," Scott says under his breath.

Lightning turns his head from the wheel. "Hey Scott, I have a question to ask you."

Scott looks at him and curls his lips. "Shoot."

"Did you know that Jo's a girl?"

"You found out? I mean, yeah, I knew." The boat steadily curves toward a wide patch of reeds.

Lightning faces back forward and shakes his head. He straightens the boat's direction to ride along the reed path. "Man, if I'm the only one who thought she was a guy, I'll be even more embarrassed."

"Honestly, you were. The rest of us were waiting for you to find out. The others were going to tell you, but I didn't let them because I wanted to spare you the embarrassment..."

Lightning turns again and puts a hand up from the wheel. "Hey, it's fine. Thanks for caring."

Scott's eyes go wide. "Lightning, wa-" The boat runs into the reeds. The water skis tip Jo, Svetlana, and Cameron into the water. Lightning yanks the wheel to the left ("Sha-dang it!"), and the dinghy passes by.

"We're in the lead!" Anne Maria says.

"Whoo hoo! Awesome! Epic!" Zoey, Brick, and Sam cheer.

Dawn scans the water behind her. "Where's Cameron?" she mutters.

The boat rumbles as it edges out of the reeds. Jo and Svetlana tuck their skis under their arms while grasping the handle. "What the heck was that, Sha-Spaz?"

"If I take my eye off the water for one second, the boat turns!" Lightning says.

"Then don't take your eye off the water!" In a lower voice, Jo says, "I knew I should've taken the driver position."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"I knew from the start that Lightning is a threat," Scott says. "B distracted me temporarily from voting him off, but I've got him now. All I have to do is make him look bad and make sure we lose the challenge, and I'm already accomplishing both." His lips pull back in a sneer. "His fate is sealed."

* * *

Jo and Svetlana climb onto their skis as the boat accelerates. Soon, it zooms toward the dinghy. Brick looks behind him. "The enemy is gaining on us!"

"The next buoy is close though," Dawn says, pointing ahead. The spiked ball sways from side to side, and a shark fin circles around it.

"Sam, get this one and we at least tie with the Maggots!" Anne Maria shouts.

"But there's a shark around it! What if it chases us?" Sam says.

"Coming through!" Dakota flies by in a small speedboat. She stops near Fang and tips some mush from her bucket into the water. The fin moves away from the buoy. Dakota keeps pouring mush as she backs up the boat. "Here, sharky shark!"

"Thanks Dakota, you're a lifesaver!" Sam says.

"I'm just doing my job, " Dakota says, her cheeks pink.

"Shoot the bell before they do!" Jo yells.

"I'm aiming..." Scott squints into the sight. "Aiming..." Sam's seagull hits the bell. The Rats cheer as the buoy explodes and sends smoke into the air.

Jo narrows her eyes. "I'm taking charge now. Lightning, stop the boat!"

"What? Why?" Lightning asks.

"Turns out our rat shooter doesn't know how to shoot." Jo swims to the boat and climbs up. She throws her ski into Scott, who falls with a grunt. "I'll be taking his place now."

"At least he was trying. You just wanna be in charge all the time, don't you?" Lightning says.

"I have a question for _you_, Jockstrap. Do you want to lose this challenge?"

"We could win it without you. We did last time."

Jo leans in toward his face and says softly, "Or, get booted out of my alliance?"

Lightning opens his mouth, then shuts it.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

"Remind me why Lightning got into an alliance with her," Lightning says. "Oh wait, he remembers. The million dollars in cold, hard cash."

* * *

"Time to take out their driver." Jo tilts the cannon toward Zoey and fires. The skiers yelp as the seagull flies past them, beak sinking into Zoey's back.

Zoey jerks forward. "Gah!" Her eyes flutter shut, and she falls on top of the wheel.

"Oh no!" Dawn says. The Rats scream as the dinghy veers violently from side to side.

Svetlana gasps, the twinkle disappearing from her eyes. "Huh?" Mike looks at his feet. He falls over the side of the ski.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"I was- water skiing?" Mike says. "...No, it must've been one of my personalities doing it. Probably Svetlana." He squeezes his eyes shut and rests his head against the wall. He bangs on it twice. "I just had to jinx it."

* * *

The boat sails ahead of the dinghy. Scott growls under his breath as he lies on his ski.

Mike drags himself onto his ski and looks behind him. His gaze comes into focus, and he gasps. "Zoey!"

Lightning twists his head toward Jo. "What'd you do that for? She's our former teammate!"

"So?" Jo says. "She's not on our side anymore. Keep facing forward!"

He turns back to the wheel. "What'd Zoey ever do to you?"

"It's not about Red," Jo scoffs. "It's about strategy. Look, we're way ahead now."

Sam staggers to the wheel and places Zoey on the floor. He seizes the wheel, and the dinghy starts moving straight. Brick and Anne Maria lie limp on their skis, still holding the handle. Dawn is sprawled across Brick's back.

"We need someone to take my place as gunner!" Sam says. "Any takers? Guys?"

A drenched Cameron clings to Mike's back. His glasses are covered in water droplets. "Mike, are you having trouble with your ski? I'll switch to Scott if you want."

Mike jumps as Cameron speaks. "Cameron, you scared me! I forgot you were there." Cameron sighs. "Yeah, I think you're better off with Scott." He turns his head to Scott. "Scott! Do you think you could carry Cameron?"

"Ugh, do I have to?" Scott mutters.

"What was that?" Mike says.

"Uh, I said sure, if I have to," Scott says. Cameron's eyebrows lift slightly.

"Buoy up ahead, Jo," Lightning says.

"Here we go." Jo leans toward the sight and adjusts the cannon. She fires a gull at the bell. **BOOM!** Smoke billows into the sky.

Jo smirks. "_That_ is how you use a gull cannon."

The Rats' dinghy drifts far behind the Maggots' boat. "Guys, wake up!" Sam says. "We'll win this challenge if we get the next buoy!"

Brick gives his head a vigorous shake and blinks several times. "You're right, soldier. I'll take the cannon. It'll be just like shooting practice at Cadets. Anne Maria, you'll have to carry Dawn."

Anne Maria rolls her eyes. "Whateva, as long as we win."

Scott now has Cameron on his back. He stretches his lips into a frown and lowers his eyelids a bit. "Cameron, Mike, I have to tell you something important."

"What is it?" Mike says, noticing his expression.

"Well, you see...I heard Jo and Lightning say they were gonna vote you off, one after another."

Mike lifts his eyebrows, creating curved crevices in his forehead. "Lightning's aligned with Jo? I thought they hated each other!"

"That's just a cover," Scott says. "Aren't you surprised too, Cameron? I sure was."

"I...I guess," Cameron says.

"Look, I say we stop those two jocks before they vote us all out," Scott says. "We can form an alliance ourselves! If you want to, of course."

Mike nods. "Sure, why-"

"We'll think about it," Cameron says. Mike and Scott stare at him.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"When Jo took charge of the cannon, I got the perfect opportunity to create an alliance with those two losers against Lightning," Scott says. "Yup, I totally planned that. I can't let Jo and Lightning see me hanging out with Mike and Cameron, or in reverse. That's easy enough. Only real problem is, Cameron is hesitant to join me. If he gets too smart for his own good, I might have to eliminate him before Jo."

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I'm pretty good at telling when someone is lying," Cameron says, "and Scott's a pretty bad liar." He hunches over and rubs his chin, a distant look in his eyes.

* * *

"How far away is this last buoy?" Lightning asks. The boat is surrounded by water with nothing else in sight.

"Chris must've put it far out as a race to the finish," Jo says. "Not that this is much of a race."

Lightning takes a deep breath and lets it out. "Jo, I'm sorry I thought you were a guy."

Jo stiffens. "I didn't care before, and I don't care now."

"I know we were both embarrassed. You were probably more embarrassed than I am, and I feel guilty for calling you a guy_ repeatedly_ without figuring out the truth." He sighs. "I did the same thing once with a girl named Eva in my school, except that she mauled me each time I forgot. She's literally built like a football player! Sorry, off track. Anyway, the point is that I've done this before, and I feel no better about it than last time."

"I should beat you up too," Jo mutters.

"What?"

"Nothing."

A pulsing rumble entered the air. "Uh, is it just Lightning or did our engine grow louder?" Lightning says.

"Get _away_ from me, you big bully!" Dakota shouts behind them. Her boat passes by, one of its ends missing. Fang swims right behind it as Dakota swipes at him with her bucket.

Fang pauses and turns toward the skiers. He smiles toothily. Cameron squeaks.

"YOU!" Scott shouts. "Back for more, huh? I'll show you who's boss!" Fang hurtles toward him. "Uh, maybe not. AHHHHH!"

Fang opens his jaws wide and knocks Mike and Cameron out of the way. Mike's shirt snags on one of Fang's teeth and rips away from his torso.

Mike gasps. His eyelids relax, and he pats his hair. "Slicked back already? Now that's what I'm talkin' about!"

As Scott paddles in between Fang's open jaws, Vito climbs into the boat and saunters up to Lightning. "Ey yo, you and I had some unfinished business."

Lightning narrows his eyes. "Get back on your ski. We're in the middle of a challenge."

"Oh yeah?" Vito jerks his thumb at Scott. "How 'bout that flailin' losah over there? He ain't gettin' back on his ski."

"Scott's my _friend_. This is my least favorite character of yours," Lightning says between his teeth.

"Least favorite, eh?" Vito grins. "Hm, I'm honored. Now fight me already. Or are ya afraid I'll win?"

"Cut it out."

"You're afraid of fighting me in front of this hot chick, aren't ya?" Vito scrutinizes Jo's face up close. "Ah, neva mind, she's hideous."

Lightning and Jo glance at each other, then assume battle stances. Both their knees are bent, fists up. Vito laughs. "A'ight, let's rumble!"

They tackle Vito.

Zoey's eyes open up to slits as she lies in the Rats' dinghy. "Huh?" Her voice is slurred. "Where am I?"

"Why do unconscious people always say that when they wake up? We're still in the challenge," Sam says. "Jo shot you with one of her team's mutant seagulls."

"Seriously?" Zoey stretches her back and jolts. "Ow! I can feel where it hit."

"Yeah, I'd recommend not moving." Sam squints ahead. "Hey, we've caught up with the Maggots somehow!"

The speedboat is going in a wide circle. Vito's arms shake as he pushes against Lightning and Jo on either side. He topples under them a moment later. Scott's screaming is muffled from inside Fang. Cameron hangs on top of a ski, his eyes shut ("This is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream").

The dinghy drives around the area. "See ya later, Jo!" Brick laughs.

Jo jumps up and runs to the edge of the boat, her mouth hanging at the hinges.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: BRICK

Brick crosses his arms and leans back, eyes half-closed. "Ahhh. That was satisfying."

* * *

"There it is!" Dawn shouts. The final buoy approaches the dinghy up ahead.

"Sam, you do the honors," Brick says.

"Really? Wow, I get to do the first strike AND fatal blow!"

Sam and Brick switch places. "Um, wouldn't it be last strike or somethin' like that?" Anne Maria says.

Sam gasps. "Anne Maria, you're a genius! I know what this challenge is like now, Major League Baseball 2010! Three strikes and the Maggots are out!"

"It could also just be Major League Baseball, or just baseball," Zoey says.

"Nah, there aren't any games with those titles." Sam aims the cannon and shoots a seagull at the buoy. It rings the bell, and the buoy explodes with a final **BOOM!**

Chris and Chef arrive at the scene in a speedboat. "Congratulations Rats!" Chris says. "You are the winners of today's water ski challenge! Although the Maggots make much better reality stars. You guys are just boring."

The Rats form identical scowls. "Thanks," Anne Maria says.

"Come on, troops! We won, let's celebrate our team effort!" Brick says. He is answered by numerous cheers.

"Nice driving, Zoey and Sam," Dawn says.

"Thanks," Zoey and Sam say at the same time.

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

Cameron, Mike, and Scott sit on their beds while Lightning occupies the bathroom. Scott hugs his legs and rocks back and forth. "I saw the inside of that shark's mouth," he whispers.

"So that's what can trigger galeophobia," Cameron murmurs, reaching under his blanket. He feels around for a moment and pauses. "Huh, I swear my notepad was under here." Scott stops rocking.

"Haven't seen it Cameron," Mike says. "I hope it shows up. I'd hate to lose my necklace." He reaches under his pillow and blinks, then rummages deeper. He lifts the pillow and gasps. "Where'd it go?"

The door to the bathroom opens. Lightning steps out with a robe and sneakers on. A towel covers his head like a turban. His face shows no sign of emotion except in his eyes, which gleam as they stare at Mike for a moment. He strides to the other end of the room and slams the door behind him.

Scott smirks. "Touchy, huh?"

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

Mike rubs his hands over his face. "I did it again. I don't even know what I did, but I did it. I really hoped to get along with everyone on my team, but my disorder makes that impossible."

* * *

The front lamps of the cabins illuminate the camp in the middle of darkness. Mike walks down the steps of the cabin while looking around. Zoey does the same from the other cabin. Mike sees her, smiles, and waves.

Zoey squints ahead and smiles, putting a hand up. She and Mike walk to each other, meeting in the middle of the cabins.

"I've missed you," Mike says. Zoey opens her mouth. "Sorry, I'm not forcing you to answer that awkward greeting. Here's a better one. Haven't seen you in a while, how's your new team?"

Zoey laughs. "It's great. My new team is great. Oh yeah, and I miss you too. And how have you been?"

Mike's smile tightens. "I've been fine. I'm more concerned about you though. How's your back holding up?"

"Well, I got it patched up, and I'm good to go now."

"That's good." Mike looks up at the sky.

Zoey peers at his face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Positive. I did lose my necklace though, but it'll turn up eventually, I hope. There's a lot of stars out right now."

Zoey looks up. "And there's a full moon."

"Looks more like a gibbous to me."

"I'm not arguing with that. We both know what happened when I said the Total Warriors sequel is better than Total Warriors."

Mike chuckles and brings down his eyes to her. "About that- I was lying. I think the sequel is actually better."

"What? Wait a second, does that mean you secretly think the moon is full?"

Mike flashes the gap in his teeth. "Maybe, maybe not."

Zoey lets out a sound between a huff and a laugh. "Okay, then let's meet again tomorrow night, right here. We'll look at the moon, and if you think it looks more like a gibbous, that means this moon was a full moon."

"The moon doesn't always change in one day," Mike says. "But I'll come."

"If you don't come, consider this argument never settled. It will be an argument that you never won."

"Alright, I'm not _that_ argumentative."

"See? You're arguing." Zoey grins. "And with that, I bid you good night."

"Good night, Zoey," Mike says. They walk back to their cabins, and wave to each other on the steps. As both of them turn away, their smiles dissolve.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: ZOEY

Zoey looks down at her knees. She stays that way for several seconds before lifting her head. "I miss Mike more than I thought."

* * *

**MUTANT MAGGOTS' CABIN**

When Mike enters the males' bedroom, Scott is standing in the middle with a gold necklace in his hand. He holds it out to Mike. "Is this yours?"

A grin pops up on Mike's face. "Yeah!" He retrieves it and stares at it in his palm. "Wow, Scott, thanks for finding it!"

"No problem. I found Cameron's notepad too." His voice is low, with little inflection.

Mike looks up. "Something wrong?"

Scott glances at him and darts his eyes away. "Nothing, just that...okay, you guys deserve to know. I found both of you guys' belongings under Lightning's pillow. And more."

"_What_?" Mike says. "He stole them from us?" Cameron's eyebrows draw towards each other.

"Yeah, I even found my shark tooth there." Scott takes out a whistle from his pocket. "I have to give this to Jo now."

He exits the cabin.

* * *

CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

Scott holds up Cameron's notepad to the camera. "I'm nothing if not thorough. I have a way of ensuring Cameron's trust AND making Lightning look despicable. And I must say, Cameron has quite a few notes here..." He flips through the notepad. "A lot about the island's mutant animals, and- Mike?"

* * *

The Maggots sit near the campfire, which pops and crackles in the space of silence.

"Well, Maggots, I must say- today was your worst performance yet," Chris says. He and Chef burst into cackles.

"Shut up!" Jo and Lightning shout.

"Okay, sheesh," Chris says. "But a word of advice- try getting along if you don't want to end up back here again. The following people are safe."

"Scott." Scott gives a lighthearted smile and stands up.

"Cameron. Congrats on not getting eliminated right away by your new teammates."

"Thank you," Cameron says.

"Jo."

Lightning leaps to his feet. "Wait, why is Lightning on the chopping block? Mike's the one who ruined the challenge for us!"

Jo lifts the whistle around her neck, eyes narrowed to slits. "Because of this."

"What? What does your whistle got to do w-"

"I'm tired of being interrupted here!" Chris yells. Lightning lowers himself into his seat. Chris sighs. "The Maggot who's leaving tonight is..._Lightning_."

Lightning stands. "You cannot be serious. This is an outrage! Lightning does not deserve to go home. This is ridiculous!"

As Lightning shouts, Chris turns to Chef. "Chef?" Chef sprints toward Lightning and tucks him under his arm like a football, effectively muffling Lightning's shouts as he is dragged away.

* * *

**HURL OF SHAME**

Lightning's limbs dangle out of the catapult. "Any last words you want to say to your teammates, Lightning?" Chris asks.

"Yeah, I'll address each and every one of them." Lightning clears his throat. "_Mike_- AHHHHHHHHhhhhh!" He flails through the sky.

"Sorry, ain't nobody got time for that!" Chris says. He grins. "Just shows you how hip I am, eh? Who will be launched on this beauty of a catapult next? Find out next time, on Total. Drama. Revenge of the Island!"

* * *

VOTE CONFESSIONAL: LIGHTNING

"Well, Mike, if there's one thing I learned from you, it's that I can't stand method actors. I gave you a chance to redeem yourself, and you proved that I shouldn't have. Goodbye."

* * *

VOTE CONFESSIONAL: MIKE

"Lightning, you stole the first present my adoptive parents ever gave to me. I may have done things to you that I may never know about, but that necklace means more to me than_ you_ will ever know."

* * *

VOTE CONFESSIONAL: CAMERON

"I don't believe Scott. I am ninty-nine percent sure that he stole everyone's belongings. But Mike lost today's challenge for us. I'm sorry Mike, I know it's not your fault, but you need to get home and away from all this stress."

* * *

VOTE CONFESSIONAL: JO

"My whistle belonged to my grandfather before he gave it to me. He inspired me to become an athlete and stand up to all my brothers. Lightning, you had the decency to apologize for seeing me topless, but I will never forgive you for taking my whistle."

* * *

VOTE CONFESSIONAL: SCOTT

"Sayonara, Mr. Football. Nice to eliminate you."

* * *

NOTE: This is the chapter I had the most fun writing so far, I'll say that. The story of this chapter just kept unfolding in my mind, inspiring me to even write all these vote confessionals! I felt that they needed to be here to show the value that Mike and Jo placed on their belongings (and further justify their voting Lightning off). The reason I had the contestants lie on their stomachs on their skis is because it is likely that most contestants on a reality show don't know how to water ski. If they had two skis,_ maybe_ they would have succeeded within several tries. With one ski, failure is inevitable. Unless you're Jo. Review, everyone! It is the greatest gift you can give me as an author of fanfiction.


	11. Author's Note (to guest reviewers)

**AUTHORS' NOTE**

I feel that it is better to make myself clear about the guest reviews sooner than later. I'm just going to say this: STOP USING GUEST REVIEWS TO CHEER FOR/HATE ON JOCK. These are not reviews, these are one sentence opinions about a fanon couple, and I will no longer allow these to be put up. I will delete them.

Wish Star: Based on several points in your review, I wanted to reply right away. I'm glad you approve of how I integrated your flash idea, I wasn't sure if you would like it. The pervert idea is a good one, but it would've only affected Jo, not the others, and Scott knew Cameron was not fully convinced to vote off Lightning. The reason I'm writing this story is to correct all the things I thought the canon season did wrong, and I thought Scott's original idea to steal everyone's belongings was brilliant, so I included it. That is my personal goal, but I apologize for it conflicting with your request to change things up. I know it's annoying to read the same thing twice, but I hope that readers will bear with it, or otherwise look for a different fanfiction to suit their needs. I am aiming to create a new and improved TDROTI, not my own completely different version. Therefore, my remake is heavily-based on the canon season. I should have clarified that in the story description earlier. I'm sorry you translated my last reply as I am going to do Jock no matter what, because that was not what I meant. I was saying that I was going to either have Brick paired up with someone else in a TDAS remake (and **never** pair him with Jo), or have him paired up with Jo in this remake. If I am to be honest, which I feel your review calls for, I do not wish to pair Jo and Brick together. I will only change that if a lot more people want Jock on my poll than not, and the votes for "Yes" and "No" are pretty tied. I did not realize that Jock was such a controversial couple! I am sorry I gave you this super long paragraph to read, I hope that I have cleared any uncertainties.


End file.
